Stories from the Shatterdome
by FantasiaWandering
Summary: There are more stories from the New York Shatterdome than were told over the course of "Enemy of my Enemy." This story is a collection of tales about the Hamato clan, Angel, and the rest of the Shatterdome crew before, during, and after "Enemy of my Enemy." (Pacific Rim crossover)
1. Brain Trust

_This was originally published in Enemy of my Enemy, but it belongs over here. _

_This takes place before Enemy of my Enemy, and introduces a few elements that come to play in that story. _

* * *

**Brain Trust: A prequel**

_Winter 2016_

The wind was cold, biting into her skin as she stood on the roof of the Shatterdome, but she welcomed it. She needed a moment to gather herself. To embrace the silence after the overwhelming noise of the well-wishers inside. Sometimes, it surprised her how many friends she'd made while she and Donnie worked to get Shell Shocker ready to deploy. Friends were something she'd more or less given up on when she'd accepted the guys into her life.

She sighed, wrapping her arms around herself, and her birthday gift — a flight jacket with Mikey's newly-approved Shell Shocker logo proudly emblazoned on the front — kept out the worst of the chill.

They meant well. But in the over three years since the Kraang had strapped her into that machine, sometimes her head started getting very… crowded. She breathed in slowly, letting it go as she tried to figure out where _April_ began and ended.

"April?"

_Of course it's him_.

Taking another steadying breath, she turned with a smile. "Hey, Donnie. Sorry, I'm not being a very good birthday girl, am I?"

"No, no, I understand," he said, fidgeting a little. "It's just…." He reached into the pocket of his own flight jacket. "There wasn't really the right opportunity to give you this."

Her eyes widened as he pulled out a suspiciously small velvet box and held it out to her. She took it, her hands trembling as she fought against what she suspected was inside. "Donnie, you shouldn't—"

"Please, April," he said, and his voice was taught with nervousness. "Just… open it."

_Donnie, I swear to god, if this is a ring, I'm going to…._

But as the box opened with a little creak, her breath left her in a rush and the thought died unfinished as she stared at what the box contained.

The pendant lay nestled against dark velvet, shining like a small star in the glow of the searchlights that swept the bay for signs of kaiju. It was Mikey's Shell Shocker logo done in miniature, the shell carved of pale jade, each scute lovingly picked out in minute detail. The lightning bolt blazed across the shell in gleaming gold, supporting the golden circle that bore the four coloured gems at the cardinal points, one stone for each turtle.

She ran her fingers over it in mute shock. She had never really been one for jewellery, but this… this was perfect. And it didn't take a genius to figure out who had made it. "Donnie, I—"

"They think that insignia is all about us," he said quietly. "The shell. The colour points. But there's a fifth member of the family in there — Mikey made sure of that. The fifth pilot. The one who looks out for us and keeps the rest of us together." His fingertip brushed against the gold circle, and his dark eyes were solemn as they met hers. "Without you, we'd still be in those cages in that lab. A jacket… it wasn't really enough to say thank you for that."

His earnest face wavered and blurred, and she didn't trust her voice to answer. Instead, she turned her back to him and lifted her hair in silent invitation.

It took him several tries — the tiny clasp wasn't designed for turtle fingers, but he got it in the end. Donnie, after all, had very, very clever hands. And as the tiny shell came to rest just below the hollow of her throat, she let out another long breath and envisioned a wall around her mind, circling it like a protective gold ring.

And suddenly, blissfully, all the voices in her head fell silent.

"Did… did you wanna go back?" Donnie asked hesitantly.

In answer, April let herself lean back, coming to rest against the solid wall of his plastron. He jumped a little at that, and she smiled as she shook her head. "If it's okay, can we just stay here a while?"

After a moment, Donnie cleared his throat, and to his credit, there was only a tiny squeak in his voice when he answered. "Sure thing! You're the birthday girl."

But after that, he was silent, his arms coming around her from behind to keep the cold at bay as she closed her eyes, content in the knowledge that he understood. He was perfectly happy to just let her enjoy the silence. More than anyone else in the world, he understood just how long it had been in coming.

* * *

_Summer 2017_

The cybernetic circuitry of the thinking cap clung to him, and though he knew that the sweat currently pouring down his face wouldn't short it out, he fervently hoped that it would. He wanted something — _anything —_ to go wrong before this test was allowed to reach its conclusion.

_Drift compatible._ He and April tested off the charts. He knew that. But up until this point, there'd always been something to put it off. He was needed to fix some complex piece of equipment, or April was needed to analyze kaiju movement patterns.

But now Takahashi had put his foot down. Quantum Bravo was just sitting in the bay gathering dust, and they needed another strong team to take the Mark II out. So here he was, wired into the pons next to April and praying for the sky to fall.

_Neural bridge initiation in three…. two…_

There was a flash of light, and klaxons began to scream throughout the Shatterdome. The synthesized voice of the AI aborted the countdown, and began a new pattern.

_Movement detected in the Breach. New York seaboard trajectory confirmed. Shell Shocker, report for drop._

"YES!" Donnie shouted, pumping his fist. Only then did he remember that he wasn't alone, and met the stunned gazes of his family. "Uh… I mean… boo?"

With a whoop, Mikey jumped from his perch on a control panel and darted past. "Leo, my man, we're up, bro! Let's _dance!_"

Leo followed Mikey quietly, shaking his head as he passed. Raph was close behind Leo, but paused next to Donnie, and Donatello couldn't help but flinch as the intensity of Raph's gaze met his.

"Get it together, Donnie," Raph said, looking after Leo's retreating back. "We need another team out there. We can't let 'em carry it alone." His expression hardened. "Especially _him_."

With that, Raph followed after their brothers, leaving Donnie and April to be freed from the circuitry suits by the waiting ground crews. Donnie glanced over at April, meeting her questioning look with a sheepish shrug, but he said nothing.

How could he admit that he was afraid to let the person he was most drift compatible with see what was in his head? And that he was even more afraid to see what was… or wasn't… in hers...


	2. 3 am

_This takes place shortly after "Enemy of my Enemy" ends._

* * *

**3 am**

The problem with living on a military base — well, it wasn't really military, but amounted to pretty much the same thing — was that there was never any chance to be alone. Never that quiet moment in the middle of the night when everyone else was sleeping and you could just be alone with your thoughts. And for someone whose brain was increasingly permeable to the thoughts of everyone else on base, April really _missed_ those moments.

The Shatterdome status screen on the opposite wall may have been in its muted nighttime mode, a reassuring "all clear" green, but that didn't stop her laser-corrected vision — funny, she'd never considered that you couldn't have a nearsighted Jaeger pilot — from having no trouble picking out the "3 AM" at the top of the screen.

Sighing, she pushed back the blankets and slipped on a pair of tennis shoes before clipping her ID to the hem of her tank top. Sleep wasn't coming any time soon, and her boxers and tank top were good enough for anyone else insane or unlucky enough to be awake at this hour. She briefly thought of waking Donnie, but he'd been up till the wee hours the night before yelling at Gottlieb again, and he needed his sleep. Her thoughts also drifted toward Casey for a moment, but that… that was still too new.

So instead, her restless feet led her to the deserted kitchen. Murakami had given her the freezer combination for just such an emergency, and she was looking forward to spending some quality time with Ben and Jerry…

…and Leo?

He blinked at the sudden light as April flipped the switch before giving her a sheepish look and sticking his spoon in his mouth so he could pat the counter next to him.

Pausing to grab a spoon on the way, April hoisted herself up beside him, digging her spoon into the proffered container of "Shell Shocking" — a specialty flavour the company had made in flagrant defiance of the rationing, which contained chocolate, peanut butter swirls, and chunks of caramel-pecan "turtles". The twelve donated crates of it were the Shatterdome's only source of chocolate, which was why Murakami had had to start locking the freezer.

Speaking of…

"I know for a fact that Murakami hasn't given the combination to anyone else," she mumbled around her spoon. "How did you—"

He raised a brow at her, and she gave a soft, exasperated snort. "Right. Ninja."

It was funny, but no matter how many times she saw it, she still wasn't used to seeing him without the mask. It still seemed wrong somehow. "You're naked," she pointed out. He'd clipped his ID to his dog tags, and they were his only attire.

He shrugged, and gave her a little grin. "Still not used to the clothes thing, I guess. Never occurs to me this late."

"You know it ticks Takahashi off when you guys run around in the buff."

"Good thing Takahashi has more sense than to be up this late, then." Leo dug his spoon into the ice cream again, nabbing one of the prime chunks of turtle before April's spoon could get to it and earning a cry of protest from her as he popped it smugly into his mouth.

Sticking her toungue out at him, she whacked him on his scarred shoulder with her spoon before dipping it back into the ice cream. "Speaking of," she said, and raised a brow at him. "Dreams again?"

His gaze went ever so slightly distant at that, and April winced inwardly. She'd only drifted with him once, but that had been enough to get a sense of exactly what had happened to him during the brief time she and the guys had been separated after the first kaiju attack, and it was more than enough to give _anyone_ nightmares. The record of it was still written across his skin, which remained marked with far more scars than his brothers. But he just nodded and shrugged again. "Not bad enough to get Mikey up. But bad enough." He tapped her lighly on the forehead with his spoon. "And you? Still hearing things?"

It was her turn to shrug. "Yeah. Can't get my brain to shut up, and I can't tell if it's me or the poor schmoes on the night shift. Donnie has some theories that it might get worse in cycles correlated to the breach, but I actually think it's gotten a bit better since we started Drifting. His brain is, like, crazy regimented to help him keep all that stuff he's got crammed in there from overwhelming him, and I think some of that is rubbing off. It helps, a little."

"I've been meaning to ask…" Leo took another spoonful, uncovering another massive chunk of turtle. This one he scooped up and offered to April instead. "How are things with you two?"

She accepted the turtle before he could change his mind, chewing on it thoughtfully as she considered his question. "Is this brother-Leo or leader-Leo asking?"

"Both."

April sighed, her free hand drifting up to toy with the Shell Shocker pendant she wore constantly. "Confusing. Amazing. I still catch him being sad sometimes, and I hate that he is, but at the same time, since Quantum Bravo, we're just so… so…."

"In the Drift?" Leo supplied.

She grinned. "Yeah. And it's, like… I haven't felt this _happy_ since the war started."

Her grin faltered a little, and her eagle-eyed leader didn't miss it. Of course. "April?"

"I just…" She looked down, her gaze tracing over the scars on his arms. "Sometimes I still feel like the war is my fault. The Kraang wouldn't have sent the kaiju if they hadn't been so focused on getting me back…"

Leo took her spoon from her hand and set it and his own aside in the empty ice cream container. "You know that's crazy talk, right?_"_ He shifted on the counter, eliminating the distance between them. "You're pretty much the only thing that's limiting them to sending one kaiju at a time and not flooding the whole planet with them all at once. The Kraang have been working on this a long time, April. If not you, there'd be some other diabolical scheme they'd be using to try to terraform the Earth. Only now you get to get in a Jaeger and fight back."

As his arm went around her, she gave a quiet laugh and leaned into his shoulder. "You're the only person I know who can use a phrase like "diabolical scheme" and make it sound natural."

"I have many talents," he said. "Hero dialogue is just one of them."

She shook her head and let out a long breath. Leo may have a lot of seriously messed-up stuff in his head, but being around him was like being in a room full of wind chimes and scented candles. It didn't make the crowding in her head go away, exactly, but it put a kind of soothing blue buffer between them. His right arm hugged her close to his side, but his left was draped across his lap, and she reached out to trace the scars left by the circuitry burns. His skin was a road map in many ways, the circuitry scars crossing old ones from his confinement, and older ones still from various fights with the Kraang and the Foot.

"…do you ever regret meeting me?" she asked quietly.

"Not for a second," he said, and she loved him for the fact that there was no hesitation is his voice when he said it.

She felt the warmth of his breath stir her hair just before he dropped a kiss on the top of her head. "Come on," he said, pushing himself off the counter and moving in front of her. "Let's get you back to bed."

Grabbing one of her arms, he tugged her off the counter onto his shell, holding her efficiently in place with one hand as he courteously dumped the ice cream container into the sink.

His hands now free, he hitched her into place and wandered out of the kitchen with her on his back, turning off the lights with an elegantly outstretched leg on the way past.

"Showoff," she muttered, and earned a laugh from him in return.

She wound her arms around his shoulders, and her fingers rested only a moment on the riveted hole in his shell.

_Not for a second._

Some days, she knew, it was a lie, albeit a kind one. But today was not one of those days. She knew that as surely as she knew that once he'd seen her safely back to bed, her big little brother would stay to watch over her, his soothing blue presence surrounding her until she finally fell asleep.


	3. The Remedy

_This story was bouncing around my head for a while, but it took an image from Brushbell to help me figure out how the ending worked. Thank you so much for that!_

* * *

**The Remedy**

Casey fidgeted in his seat, his sneakers scuffing at the grass as he tugged on the tie around his neck. The tie had been a stupid idea - he never should have listened to Raph. Moron. April was wearing a freaking hoodie, for crying out loud. Still, not even a hoodie could make April any less gorgeous, and the tie made Casey feel at least not _entirely_ out of place in the bright, flowery gardens.

He wasn't even sure their companion had enough attention to spare to actually notice what he was wearing, though at least he'd remembered Casey's name this time. After April had recounted their last visit, the turtles had called him 'Connie' for weeks. Still, he couldn't really hold it against the guy. Mr. O'Neil has a lot on his mind these days.

April's dad knelt next to her at the edge of the white sand of the zen garden, both of them animatedly messing up the carefully-traced patterns in the sand as they scribbled sciencey stuff in it, passing a stick April had pulled off a flowering crabapple tree back and forth between them.

"Fascinating," Mr. O'Neil said. "So if we could figure out a way to get past the mouth of the breach to _this _point-"

"We stand a chance at collapsing it for good," April finished. "At least, that's what Donnie thinks. He tried to talk to Gottlieb about it, but Hermann's still mad about the whole 'pea brained cave dweller' crack."

Mr. O'Neil shook his head. "I warned him that Gottlieb's got a temper. I got to know him pretty well when we were working up the Ranger profiles to back up the case for breaking the guys out of detention..." He trailed off, his eyes going momentarily distant as he gazed out over the gardens.

April rested a hand on her father's arm. "I think the problem is that they're too much alike. I'm going to see if I can call Hermann on my own to try to talk him 'round."

Kirby looked down at his daughter and smiled. "He'd be an idiot to say no to you." His expression softening, he took April's face between his hands. "Look at you, sweetie. When did you become such a smart, accomplished young woman?"

April's cheeks reddened beneath her freckles. "Daaa-ad!"

"I mean it." Mr. O'Neil looked up at Casey. "You count your blessings, Casey Jones."

"I do every day, sir," Casey replied.

"Good man," Mr. O'Neil said, laughing at his daughter's protests. The scientist's hair may have been shot through with grey, but he still knew how to get the best of his little girl, and before long, his cornball teasing had her crying with laughter.

It was then that an orderly across the yard dropped one of the trays he was carrying, the crash echoing over the sculpted flowerbeds.

Between one breath and the next, Mr. O'Neil was screaming. The laughter fled from her eyes, April reached for him desperately. "Dad, it's okay, it's fine. You're okay, Daddy, please-"

But it was too later. Mr. O'Neil was gone, lost to hysterics as he sobbed against his daughter's chest. April's face was wet, but her voice remained strong as she held her father, soothing him with gentle meaningless words as she rocked him until the doctors arrived at a run, sedatives in hand. Casey had to help them pry April's hands away as her father's gaze went distant. Her father was staring into her eyes, but they both knew that he wasn't seeing her any more.

_"He was the Kraang's prisoner for months," _April had told him the night he'd finally gotten up the nerve to ask where her father was. She'd tugged the blanket up further around her shoulders, toying absently with a fraying thread on the pillowcase to avoid looking at him as she spoke._ "I never really found out exactly what they did to him, but I know they experimented on him. Messed with his mind. He was in bad shape when we got him back, but I actually think he was doing better for a while..."_

And then the kaiju leveled their old neighbourhood. The guys had gotten them to safety, but a part of Mr. O'Neil had never made it out.

April stayed strong until her father was out of sight, and then Casey had to stand there and watch her just...fade. She never cried after one of these episodes. Just... turned inward. Way inward. Sighing, Casey placed an arm around her shoulders and led her back to the hospital's reception area.

"We'll try again next week, okay?"

She didn't answer. He didn't expect her to, but her arms were almost painfully tight around his waist as he wove the bike through the late afternoon traffic, heading back to the Shatterdome.

He didn't know what to do to fix her dad. But at least he knew the remedy for what was ailing April.

The Shatterdome was cold and damp in the autumn. They assured him it would get better as the winter set in and the tightwads holding the purse strings finally broke down and turned the heat on, but for now they were deep in their "energy saving measures." Which meant that the guys tended to do the turtle thing nap a lot when they weren't training.

Sure enough, he found the turtle he was looking for bundled up in a hoodie and dozing on a bench in the lounge, the book he'd been reading when he'd fallen asleep lying at his feet.

Casey grabbed the bo leaning against the doorframe and crossed the room, towing April behind him. When he reached a safe distance, he stopped and prodded Donnie in the side "Yo, braniac. Wake up."

Donnie moved before Casey could blink, his hand lashing out in a green blur and yanking the bo from his hand.

One of the first things Casey had learned about living with the guys. When trying to wake a sleeping ninja, always use a stick.

The rest of Donnie woke up a few moments after his ninja reflexes did, and he blinked muzzily up at them. "Huh? Wha?"

Placing his hands gently on April's shoulders, Casey propelled her toward Donatello. "It happened again. Fix this."

Donnie's eyes focused at last on April. He didn't say a word. Just held out his hands. Casey's were still on her shoulders, and he could feel the tremor that ran through her as her inner barriers snapped and she collapsed against her co-pilot.

The worst part, Casey thought as he moved around the lounge, putting Donnie's bo and book back in their proper places, was the fact that she never made a sound. Just shook as she wept silently into Donnie's chest. Donnie never said anything either; he just held her, stroking her hair, and let whatever it was that kept them so strong in the Drift do its thing.

By the time Casey found a blanket to cover them, April was sound asleep in Donnie's arms. That was pretty much par for the course, too; because of the weird thing her brain did, she found the constant emotional barrage of hospitals exhausting at the best of times. Donnie appeared to have conked out, too, but one brown eye cracked open as Casey returned bearing two cups of the terrible lounge coffee, and he held out his hand with a look of grateful relief as Casey passed one to him.

"Thanks," Donnie said. He didn't mean the coffee.

"You too." Sinking down on the bench with a quiet groan, Casey glanced over at his sleeping girlfriend. Her face was still tear streaked, but at least that horrible tension had eased out of her. He hated seeing her like this. It was so much harder when there was nothing he could punch to make it better. Shuddering, he took a sip of the horrible cofffee. "You think it's ever gonna get better?"

Donnie winced as he lowered his own cup, glaring in pained effrontery at the sludge within. "I hope so. His is a bad case, but post-traumatic stress treatments have come a long way since the first world wars."

"Bet they didn't have to deal with aliens, though."

"No," Donnie said slowly. "No, that would be new." Giving up on the coffee, he passed the cup back to Casey. "Still..." He glanced down at April, who was beginning to drool onto his hoodie. "He's got the best incentive in the world right here."

"And she's got us," Casey said.

Though Casey often found the Shatterdome's resident genius confusing and impossible to understand, that wasn't the case this time. They may not always get along, or even understand one another, but on one thing, they were both in perfect, drift-compatible accord.

Donnie smiled. "Always."


	4. Hey Now, I'm a Rock Star!

_Happy birthday to the wonderful wtf-skittens!_

* * *

**Hey Now, I'm a Rock Star!**

Michelangelo loved this part of the job. He really did. The fancy music, the pretty clothes, the hordes of attentive ladies hanging on his every word... But damn, if the suit didn't get itchy sometimes, and there was absolutely no way to scratch it. Trying very hard not to wriggle – Leo called him out on the itchy dance _every _time – he dropped the straw he'd snagged into the glass in his other hand, and jammed the tip of the straw into the drivesuit's fluid intake port. At least he could take the edge off his irritation a little.

_"__Error."_ The synthesized voice of the Shatterdome's AI rang through his helmet. He'd started thinking of her as "Ai" after one of his favourite Jpop singers, which seemed a little friendlier that sounding out the letters. But at the moment, her normally expressionless voice didn't sound particularly friendly. "_Pilot age is not sufficient to access liquid substance detected. Intake system disabled."_

His brows drawing together, Mikey switched off the external speakers on his helmet, but left the comm channel open. "_Donnie!_ What did you do to my suit?"

"_It's not just your suit," _Donnie's voice answered over the comms. Even with the radio distortion, Mikey could hear the irritation. Donnie and April hadn't been happy to draw the short straw when it came to who had to stay back at the Shatterdome on monitor duty. "_It's everyone's suit."_

_"__Everyone who's underage, anyway." _The smugness practically oozed out of April's voice. Of course she was monitoring the comms with Donnie. Since they'd started Drifting, every moment April had that wasn't with Casey was spent with her partner. Not that Mikey particularly minded - things were way less painfully awkward between the two of them now that they were drifting. But he did miss his April time sometimes.

"This is so unfair!" Mikey protested. "I put my life on the line for the fate of the entire planet, and I don't even get _one_ glass of champagne? Last time he was at one of these, Casey had, like, ten."

"_Casey's over twenty-one. And why do you think he and Raph aren't at this gala?" _Leo's voice broke in, prompting Mikey to stick his tongue out, even though nobody could see it. "_Just keep shmoozing, Mikey. Talk to that girl in the white dress. Takahashi said her dad's on the fence about funding the program."_

"_Talk to the girl in the white dress_," Mikey mimicked. "Dude, why don't _you_ talk to her?"

"_I tried_," Leo admitted sheepishly. "_She thinks Space Heroes: A Generation Reborn is infinitely superior to the original. We… may have had words._"

Mikey groaned, accompanied by Donnie and April over the comms, and waved a dismissive hand at Leo, who was standing on the other side of the ballroom and wearing a mirrored visor and _still _managing to glare at Mikey. "Look, dude, you can clean up your own nerd messes. I'm gonna go talk to who _I _wanna talk to."

"_Mikey_," Leo began, in that tone that said a lecture was imminent. Before he could get another word out about duty and honour and obligations to the program blah blah blah, Mikey switched off his suit comms. Raph and Casey always got to go to the fun parties on military bases where there was a lot of loud music and mechanical bulls and dudes punching each other for fun. Leo and Mikey always got the ones with quiet classical string quartet and way too many breakable pieces of furniture. Well, if he had to be at these things, he was going to enjoy himself on his own terms. Leo could make up with the girl in the white dress. Mikey was going to talk to… to…

His gaze swept the room behind his mirrored visor, quietly assessing the partygoers.

_Her_. The quiet blonde in the corner who'd been looking at him like she was trying to get up the courage to talk to him all night.

Stealthily ditching the straw in a potted plant, he sauntered over to her and offered her the glass in his hand.

"Hi," he said. "You look like you could use this."

Her eyes went wide as she realized that he was actually talking to her. "Oh! I- Yeah, um…" She reached for the glass, her hand knocking against the hard poly of his drivesuit, and the glass crashed to the ground. Silence rippled out around them, and someone quietly muttered, "opa."

"Oh god," the girl muttered, burying her face in her hands. "Kill me now."

"Sorry," Mikey said, trying his hardest not to laugh. "I left my Jaeger at home. And you're much prettier than a kaiju, anyway."

She flushed to the roots of her hair, but at least her face was out of her hands. "Um, thanks. I think."

"Come on," he said, holding out his hand. "Let's get you something nicer than floor booze."

She was, if possible, even redder, but he could see the smile struggling to escape. He knew that "trying to look dignified and proper but having trouble holding it together" look well. But as she took his hand, earning more than one look from various people who'd been trying to get a moment with him since the gala had started, the real smile emerged.

"Thanks," she said. "Anything that will make me forget what an ass I just made of myself in the span of thirty seconds."

"Don't worry about it," Mikey said. "I can usually do it in ten."

A little snort of a laugh escaped her before her hurriedly-raised hand could cover her mouth, and Mikey grinned. It was a good sound. Kind of adorable, really. _Score one for Mikey. _Snagging something from the bar with multiple layers of colour and far too many umbrellas, he handed it to her with a flourish. "If you think it's too subtle, I can get them to add another umbrella."

She snickered again, taking the glass very carefully. "Just an umbrella? This thing needs flashing lights and a sparkler."

"I could probably get them to do that, too," Mikey offered.

She shook her head, taking a sip of the drink through the elaborately curling straw. "No, I think I'm good." Brushing a strand of hair back behind her ear, she smiled at him. "I'm Jane."

"Mike Hamato," he said, holding out a hand, which he quickly withdrew. "On second thought, maybe you'd better keep both hands on that thing until we find a good place to put it down."

Colour rose to her cheeks again, and she took another hefty sip of her drink. "Good idea." She glanced back over her shoulder, suddenly nervous again. "You think maybe we could find a spot outside? I kinda feel like I'm going to sink into the floor when these people look at me."

"You too, huh?" Fighting back another prod of the itchy dance, Mikey carefully took her arm the way he'd done a million times for April at these things when she needed air. Nobody ever questioned it when he escorted a lady outside. He was, after all, a rock star. "Come on. I think there's a door this way."

The evening air was pleasantly cool after the heat of the ballroom - or so his suit's sensors told him - and the look of relief on Jane's face told him it was exactly what she needed. The sparkly green dress she wore wasn't exactly warm, but he figured if she got cold, he could always ask her to dance. When it came to it, he was pretty good at getting a girl's heart racing, even if dancing was the limit of what he was allowed to do.

_Damn, you really _have_ been spending too much time in Leo's head. That was depressing enough to be one of _his_ thoughts._ Shaking his head a little to clear it, Mikey turned his attention back to his companion. They'd taken a seat on the edge of the patio, their feet dangling, and when one of Jane's shoes dropped to the sand below, she stared at it ruefully for a minute before sending the other tumbling after it with a quiet sigh of relief.

"So what brings you to this shindig?" Mikey asked. "You lose a bet, or what?"

Smirking, she took another sip of her drink before answering. "Do I really stick out that bad?"

"Kinda," Mikey said. "Don't feel bad, though. It took me a while to get the hang of 'em, too. But the food's good, when you're not under orders to keep your stupid helmet on, and everybody smells really pretty."

"How can you tell?" Jane tilted her head, looking at the drivesuit.

Mikey tapped his faceplate. "Adjustable filters." He leaned back, swinging his feet. "I have no idea why we'd ever need to smell kaiju, but I'm sure there's_ some_ reason I haven't thought of." Grinning behind the visor, he reached out and poked her arm. "If you're not going to tell me, I'll just start makin' stuff up. You're here because you've got a jerk of an ex, and you want to make him crazy jealous with your new, staggeringly attractive Ranger date."

Jane snorted, choking on her mouthful of fruity umbrella drink. After Mikey had thumped her on the back a few times and she'd started breathing again, she wiped her mouth and shook her head. "Nothing nearly that interesting." Her smile slipped a bit. "My dad wanted me to come. He had business here."

"Ah," Mikey said, nodding sagely. "Sounds really boring. Good thing you found me!"

"Yeah," Jane said softly, and set her empty glass on the patio next to her. She looked up at him, absently twisting a lock of hair that had slipped over her shoulder. "The beach looks really pretty, huh?"

"Mmm," Mikey said, looking out at the waves lapping at the shore. "And it doesn't even have that funky harbour smell."

She made a strangled noise as she held back a laugh, but her smile was back as she asked, "You wanna go for a walk?"

"Sure!" He backflipped to his feet, which was actually the easiest way to get the drivesuit back to standing from this particular position, and held out a hand to help her up, preening a little at the look on her face. Sometimes he forgot how ninja-skills looked to non-ninjas. Tugging her gently up next to him, he bowed and gestured to the stairs that led to the beach.

"Wow," she said, snagging his hand on the way past and pulling him along in her wake. "Isn't that hard in the drivesuit?"

"Nah," he said, waving absently with his other hand. "We do _way_ harder stuff when we're in the Jaeger."

"Still…" she cast him a sidelong glance, her eyes growing heavy and a wheedling tone creeping into her voice. _Whoop. Here it comes._ "Wouldn't it be easier without the drivesuit?"

_Like clockwork._

"Uh-uh." He waved an admonishing finger. "Can't go ruining the mystery now."

A much more genuine expression returned to her face, and she shrugged. "Can't blame a girl for trying."

"You're not exactly the first," Mikey replied, swinging their hands between them. "Come on. Surf's up, girl."

Jane left her shoes where they'd fallen - heels were worse than useless in the sand anyway - and her laughter rose above the murmur of the waves as Mikey tugged her down the beach, taking her by the wrists and wading halfway into the water over her shrieks of protest before he relented, no more than the tips of her toes kissing the surf. But by the time he was finished, all her nervous awkwardness from the ballroom was gone, washed away by the sand and the tide.

"Nice night," Mikey said quietly, looking up at the moon. Why did the moon_ always_ seem to be full every time he looked at it?

"So…" Jane kicked at the sand, toying with her hair again. "What happens now?"

Mikey's hand tightened very carefully on hers, cautious of the servos in the gloves. "Now we chill on the sand, talk about stuff, and then I take you back to the party before Leo notices I'm gone and decides it's lecture time. Then I'm hoping for some serious dancing."

Her eyes went wide as she stopped in her tracks. "That's it?"

"That's it," Mikey said. He didn't even have to work that hard to hide his regret anymore, those words had become so habitual. That was all it could _ever_ be. Even with somebody who turned out to be really nice.

"I thought.." Jane stammered. "I thought… when you asked me out here… I thought maybe you wanted…"

"For you to have a good time and stop being so freaked out by all the fancypants in there," Mikey finished. "So how am I doing?"

But the nervousness was back as Jane glanced over her shoulder at the club some distance away. "Maybe we should go back," she said, tugging on his hand. "Dancing sounds really good right now."

"Hey, it's okay," Mikey soothed. "I swear, we don't have to do anything you don't-"

He broke off, distracted by a red dot that hovered over the strap of Jane's dress. An instant later, he was mentally kicking himself as he dove for her, tackling her to the ground. He'd spent so much of his life fighting ninjas and kaiju, he'd actually thought somebody was playing with a laser pointer for a minute before he figured out what the dot was. As they crashed to the sand, the shots rang out, sending the beach spraying up around them.

Instantly, he was rolling to his feet, dragging Jane with him. He could see the gunmen now, camo-clad, between them and the club. No going that way, then. "Run!" he shouted, grabbing Jane by the wrist and dragging her toward the pier. If they could make it that far, the pillars should provide at least a little protection. More than a wide open stretch of beach, anyway. He shoved Jane ahead of him, as gently as he could given the circumstances. The drivesuit wasn't bulletproof, but at least it and his shell were a lot more protective than Jane's pretty dress.

Jane turned to look over her shoulder, and the moonlight shone on the tears running down her face. "Mike-"

"Don't talk," he snapped. Just a few feet now. "Save it for running." Three. Two…

He put on a final burst of speed, catching up with her and slamming her against the far side of a pillar as a hail of gunfire thudded into the other side. Shielding Jane as best he could, he frantically keyed open his comms. "Leo!" he called, but was met with only static. "Donnie? Angel? _Is anybody listening?"_

Mikey could feel Jane trembling even through his drivesuit, and he pulled back long enough to put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, I know it looks bad, but I've been through worse and gotten out okay. Just trust me, all right? I'll get us out of this."

"Why did you have to be so _nice_?"

Her voice was soft, barely over a whisper, yet it pierced through his suit's filters like a shot. Slowly, his attention left the commandoes advancing down the beach to refocus on the shaking girl in front of him. He let his gaze drift down to his comm controls, and finally noticed the subtle scorch marks, as though from a small, localized shock.

Cold stillness swept through him. "What did you do?"

"I'm sorry." She glanced over her shoulder, desperation ringing in every word. "I was just supposed to get you alone and disable your comms. But I didn't want to- I didn't think they'd get here this fast. I-" A fresh wave of tears spilled down her cheeks. "I didn't think you'd be so… so…"

Mikey cursed, a long string of Japanese under his breath, as his fists clenched and he found himself longing for his nunchucks. He'd _told_ Donnie the drivesuits should have their own plasma canons. "So what?" he spat.

"...human," Jane finished.

His sharp bark of laughter was devoid of humour as he grabbed her arm and dragged her deeper into the shadows of the pier, water sloshing around their ankles. "Let me guess," he said. "That business of your dad's wouldn't happen to be Humans First, would it?"

She'd gone white, though he couldn't tell if it was from cold or shock as a fresh wave of bullets rained around them. By all rights, he ought to just push her into them and see how waterproof his drivesuit turned out to be. For a moment, he seriously considered it. Then, he let out another string of cursing and pulled her deeper into shelter.

"You don't understand," she said, clutching at his arm. "My sister died in the first wave."

"Everyone lost people in the first wave," he snapped back. "Even us."

At least she had the grace to look guilty. "I know. But my dad… he was never the same. He got obsessed with kaiju, so when Humans First found him..." She scrubbed her free hand over her face, leaving a smear of eyeliner behind. "He told me stories about you and your brother. Showed me pictures. Said if I helped him, I'd be helping humanity, and then my sister could rest in peace. I just… I thought if I did this, we could be a family again-"

The fanatics had been drawing closer as Mikey lead them beneath the pier, and one stray bullet found its mark. Mikey reeled, cursing as his visor blossomed into a web of cracks, completely obscuring his vision. With a sharp jerk, he broke the seals and tugged it off. "No point in this anymore anyway," he muttered darkly.

Turning back to Jane, he let what little light there was fall on him, glaring down at her and daring her to say something.

Her wide eyes were raw and red with tears, but there was something in them he hadn't expected to see, and he took a small step back. "What?"

"You were supposed to be a kaiju," she whispered. "A monster." She reached a trembling hand toward him, but before she could make contact, her fingers closed. "I wish I'd never said yes."

Mikey stared at her for a moment more before turning aside in disgust. "If you can get those jerks to stop shooting long enough to let you get clear, I suggest you do it now."

It took her a minute to figure out what he was offering. Then, she drew a sharp breath, biting her lip before nodding, once. Leaning against the pillar to steady herself, she closed her eyes for a moment before calling out. "Dad!"

"Janie?" A harsh voice drifted back from behind the line of gunmen. "_Stop shooting, dammit. _Janie, that thing hurt you?"

"No, Dad," she called back. More tears dropped into the waves that lapped around her feet. "He's letting me go."

For a second, the only sound was that of the surf drifting past the forest of piles surrounding them. Then, the line of human fanatics parted, and the man Mikey assumed to be Jane's father stepped forward.

The worst part of it was always how normal they looked. This man could have been anyone's dad. Just your average human guy on the street. It was a mistake Mikey had been making ever since Bradford - you'd think hearts that evil would show _some_ sign of it on the outside. But they never did.

"Jane, you come away from there," Jane's father said, holding out his hand.

"Easy, Alex." Another fanatic sidled closer to Jane's dad, eyeing Mikey with undisguised loathing. "You don't know what it might have infected her with. Don't be hasty."

Alex turned to glare at the other man. "Shut up, Cavanagh. Jane, get over here, now."

Slowly, Jane took a step away from the pillar she sheltered behind to stand in front of Mikey, her arms spread.

"Jane," Mikey whispered frantically, shoving at her a little. "What are you doing? Move, now!"

But Jane wasn't moving. She'd planted herself squarely in place, the hem of her dress drifting in the waves, as she stared down the line of guns pointed directly at her. "We were wrong, Dad," she said, and the tremor was gone from her voice. "He's not what we thought."

"He's a monster, Janie," Alex raised his gun, but it wavered as he sighted down it toward his daughter.

"No, he's not." She turned her head, sparing him a quick glance. "I don't know what he is, but I know I feel more _human_ than I have since the kaiju first made land!" Jane took a slow, cautious step forward. "He's not the enemy, dad. He just wants to help. Can't we just go home?"

Alex was shaking so hard, Mikey was amazed that the gun hadn't already gone off, and the man's pale face twisted beneath the onslaught of Jane's earnest plea. "Jane, it has to die. It's us or the monsters, you know that. And you know what happens to the people who choose the monsters."

Mikey watched a ripple of fear run through her, and it made him wonder just what she'd seen since her dad had dragged her into Humans First. "It's okay, Jane," Mikey whispered softly, too low for any of the fanatics to hear. "Just go."

But that didn't quite have the effect he'd intended. Jane squared her shoulders and shook her head. "I can't let you do this." She was shaking, but her stance made it clear she wasn't going anywhere. "Daddy, please. This isn't what Kelly would have wanted."

Alex jerked as though Jane had just burned him, and a look of disgust spread across his face. "You shut up!" he spat. "Don't you _dare_ profane your sister's memory like that!"

"It's too late, Alex," Cavanaugh said. "She's contaminated."

"I'm not _contaminated_," Jane insisted, pleading with her father. "I'm your daughter!"

But as Mikey watched, a look of calm, cold blankness stole across Alex's face. Mikey had seen it before. Karai. Bradford. That guy whose name they didn't speak. He knew what it meant.

"Both of my daughters died in the first wave."

The tremors stopped. The gun steadied, pointing straight at Jane's heart.

Mikey lunged, his arm wrapping around Jane's waist as the crack of the gunshot rang out. A second later, they hit the water, and the shock of that icy cold slucing into his suit before his seals kicked in threatened to drive the breath from his lungs. But he hung on, willing Jane to do the same, as he kicked for deeper waters. The shots reverberated in his ears, distorted by the waves above them, as the fanatics fired blindly into the sea. Finally, his head broke the surface behind a large central pillar. He held on to Jane until she was done retching the water from her lungs, and then took her by the shoulders, holding on until her raw, haunted eyes locked on his.

"Stay here," he said, and melted into the shadows.

It had been a long time since he'd had a chance to do this, and he was surprised by how much he'd missed the dark. But as he made his way along the underside of the pier, eyeing the fanatics below him, he felt a rush of exhilaration that he hadn't felt since he was fifteen. Alex and Cavanaugh were yelling now about how Jane was a traitor to her race. Cavanaugh's diatribe was especially nauseating, detailing what he was going to do to Jane in order to spill her traitor blood. Slowly, Mikey felt the cold glaze creeping over his vision, and he let it happen.

He ghosted over the edge of the pier just long enough to yank loose a length of chain between two posts that formed the guardrail. Then, he dropped back over the edge.

The first two went down before they even knew he was there. The third barely had time to make a noise before he followed them. And then they were on top of him, unable to use their guns without striking one another, though that didn't stop a few of them from trying. Nice of them to do his work for him.

He continued to fight, letting himself remember the difference between random goons and kaiju, and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't enjoying himself. They kept coming, but he never stopped moving, never holding still long enough to let them get a bead on him with their weapons. They were growing wise to him, had managed to cut him off from the pier, but from there, they found themselves at a stalemate.

"Give it up." Cavanagh didn't look so good. A cut over his eye was bleeding pretty good, and he was struggling for breath. "You're outnumbered and we took out your comms. Nobody's coming to help you. You can't win."

"Oh, I know that," Mikey said conversationally, as he danced out of the way of the creep sneaking up behind him and kicked Alex in the chest for good measure on his way past. "I'm not trying to win. I'm just buying time."

_That_ got a reaction. Alex, still doubled over from the kick - _score one for drivesuit boots_ \- stared up at him. "For what?"

"You may have cut off my comms, but the suit's patched into my vitals. My family gets pretty panicky if the helmet comes off." He gestured at the water behind Cavanagh. "Check it out."

The fanatics turned slowly to face the water, which was bubbling and roiling like a soup pot boiling over. With a lurch, a huge metal head broke the surface, and Mikey distinctly smelled urine from one of the fundamentalists next to him as Goongala hauled herself out of the depths of the ocean. The thundering crack of her fists pounding together echoed across the beach, followed by the deafening blast of her foghorn.

"Dudes, that's totally _my_ thing," Mikey muttered under his breath.

It was impossible for a Jaeger to be subtle. Summoned by the foghorn, partygoers began spilling from the club, and the unmistakable whine of police sirens drifted from the roadway. Fundamentalist nutjobs weren't particularly big on discipline at the best of times, and that broke them. They fled, screaming, down the beach.

But there were a couple who weren't about to get away that easily.

With a practiced flick of his wrist, Mikey sent his length of chain flying toward Cavanagh, and yanked the man's entangled feet right out from under him. As he sprawled in the sand, Mikey took off after Alex. But Jane's father had a good head start, and running in sand was _hard_ in a drivesuit.

"You are dead to me, girl," Alex screamed back over his shoulder. "You have _nothing_. You'll be out on the street. And one day I will find you, and I will make you pay for betraying- _urk!_"

Alex's tirade ended in a strangled squeak, and he dropped like a rock to reveal Leo blocking his path. Leo's pose was heroic, but ruined somewhat by the fact that his weapon of choice was a beach umbrella, and his drivesuit was absolutely covered in pink paint, glitter, and feathers.

"Dude," Mikey breathed. "What happened to you?"

"I don't wanna talk about it," Leo said flatly. "Where the hell is your helmet?"

"Right, right." Mikey ran to the end of the pier to retrieve it, jamming it back on his head just as the rest of the public arrived for the show. He still couldn't see through the cracked visor, but he didn't really need to anymore either.

"_Did you find him?"_ Donnie's panicked voice was audible even through Leo's helmet. "_Is he okay?"_

"He's fine," Leo said. "We'll talk to the authorities and head back to base with Goongala."

"_Well, hurry up," _Raph chimed in. "_We're not exactly Cinderella's carriage here. And Casey's pissed that he didn't get to step on anyone."_

_"__What good is a giant robot if you can't even squash a few goons in the name of justice?" _Casey said.

Leo rolled his eyes and went to do the Leo thing. In only a few moments, he was back, and rested a hand on Mikey's shoulder, turning off his comms as he did so. "You _are_ okay?" Leo asked quietly.

Mikey smiled behind the visor and butted his cracked faceplate lightly against his brother's. "I'm _fine_. These guys were lamer than the Purple Dragons. Nothing I couldn't handle."

"Good," Leo said, and he couldn't hide the relief in his voice. He switched his comms back on and slung his arm around Mikey's shoulders, tugging him toward the Jaeger. "Let's go."

Down the beach, Goongala knelt, lowering a hand so that they could climb aboard.

"Oh!" Mikey cried, pulling away from Leo. "I almost forgot!" Though he couldn't see past Leo's mirrored visor, he could practically feel his brother's stare boring into him as he ran back down the beach, splashing into the water around the piles.

He found her curled up in the shelter of a pillar, her dress soaked and her hair matted with kelp and algae as the sobs wracked her body. She was weeping hard enough that she didn't even hear him approach, so that when he cleared his throat, she jumped as though he'd shocked her, staring up at him in terror. He knew that broken, lost look. He'd seen it before. But he also knew a thing or two about making it go away.

Slowly, he extended his hand. "I think I know somewhere you'll be safe," he said softly. And waited.

It was a long, agonizing moment. But slowly, very slowly, her trembling fingers found his.

* * *

"_Again?_" Mikey stared in dismay at his schedule. "Why do I have hand-to-hand combat _again_?"

"Because you managed to get cornered by a bunch of fundamentalist whackbags at a party?" Raph offered, chewing on a slice of toast as he dumped the remainder of his breakfast tray in the receptacle.

Mikey glared at him. "That was a whole _month_ ago!" Trailing the rest of the family out of the mess hall, he groaned. Sometimes people just didn't give him enough credit. "It's not like it's gonna happen _twice_."

"Not with more hand-to-hand practice, no," Leo said in that way that meant the argument was over.

Mikey swore at him and jammed the schedule into the pocket of his flightsuit, in his distraction nearly colliding with a member of Shell Shocker's ground crew who was mopping the floor.

As he reached out to steady her, she blushed, the ponytail in her blonde hair ensuring that she couldn't hide the colour change. "Hi Mike," she said shyly.

"Hey, Jane!" The smile that broke over his face was genuine. "You settling in okay?"

"Oh, yeah." She glanced warily over at April, who'd stopped with the others to wait for Mikey, and he couldn't fault her for her caution. Jane'd had to go through the wringer with April and the weird thing April's brain did before she'd been cleared to stay at the base.

He gave Jane a sympathetic look. "Don't worry. April's like that with_ all_ the newcomers."

"No, I get it. I really do." She pulled her mop close to her chest. "And I met someone named Angel who threatened to break my legs if I hurt you." She shrugged. "She seems nice."

Mikey snorted. "She does that. Everything else okay though?"

"Sure." She bit her lip for a moment before she continued. "I just wanted to say thank you. I… I don't know what else I would have done if you hadn't..."

"Hey," he said, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it, okay? This place is good at giving people second chances." He gestured over his shoulder at Casey. "Just look at Mr. Neanderthal over there."

"Hey!" Casey protested, and turned to punch a snickering Raph in the arm.

"Look," Mikey continued, "I gotta go, but the base is having a pizza night this week. You should come. Make some friends."

The haunted, broken look was still there in her eyes. Would be there for a while, unless he missed his guess. But as she looked up at him and nodded, he could see the stirrings of something that he hadn't seen since that night in the ballroom.

_Sometimes this war makes you forget what hope looks like. _

Mikey moved off, waving until she raised her hand in a hesitant return, and then turned to rejoin his brothers.

Donnie shook his head as he reached them, looking back at Jane. "Seriously, Mikey, you have got to stop bringing home strays. That's the third one this year."

"Oh, good one, Mr. Hippocampus. You got to keep April."

"Hypocrite," Donnie corrected automatically, before he registered what Mikey had said. "Shut up!" He turned his glare on April. "And you stop laughing."

"Sorry, Dee, it was funny," April said, and moved to give Mikey a quick hug. "You did good, kid. Her dad messed her up something fierce, but there's still someone worth saving in there."

"She's only eighteen, and it's not her fault her dad's a raging jerk," Mikey replied. "I couldn't just leave her there."

April raised a brow. "And did you know you two are drift compatible?"

"I thought we might be," he said, smiling at the confirmation. "I mean, nobody's ever gonna come close to me and Leo, but it's nice to have an understudy in the wings, y'know? Especially now that you guys are all important with Goongala and QB." He nudged her lightly. "Besides, if I can't use my rock star status to pull strings and save damsels in distress, what good is it?"

April smirked and shoved him. "Good to see you're keeping grounded, Mikey."

"I've got you to keep me humble, sis," he said, shoving her back.

But despite his words, as the family tumbled into the dojo and fell in line before Splinter, he couldn't help but feel a sense of pride. Jane had had her life taken away by the war. So had the kid he'd caught trying to break into one of the Shatterdome's jeep six months ago. So had the thief who'd been mugging people to get money to pay for his mom's hospital bills three months before _that_. All of them were part of the Shatterdome crew now.

He was a Ranger. He piloted a Jaeger and killed kaiju for a living. But sometimes, it was the pull he had as a Ranger to do things like find work and a home for people like Jane that seemed like it did the most good.

The action figures, the hordes of screaming fans, the ladies who fawned over him. They were nice. Sweet, even.

But days like this were when he _really_ felt like a rock star.


	5. Evasive Maneuvers

"...and so, you see, the theoretical applications of the Jaeger technology to venues outside of kaiju prevention far outweigh the anomalous and temporary usefulness of the Pons technology to the application of…"

Leo fought back a yawn, ensuring that his external speakers were switched off, suddenly very grateful for the mirrored visor that prevented his conversational companion from seeing his face. Leo knew that getting him on board would bring critical funding to the program, but honestly, this guy was worse than Donnie when it came to talking over Leo's head. At least Donnie _tried_ to make advanced science understandable to someone who wasn't - well, him. Said brother was listening in and providing occasional feedback on the private comms, but even Donnie seemed to find this guy pretentious, and Leo was chalking Donnie's current radio silence up to April's intervention after the last profanity-laden rebuttal.

Leo's attention drifted back to the industrial magnate he was supposed to be charming, and realized in horror that the guy was staring at him. _Oh sewermuffins. It's your turn to talk. Say something!_

But before he could respond, Mikey's voice blasted through his helmet in a screech of feedback. _"_Donnie! _What did you do to my suit?"_

Wincing, Leo switched his externals back on. "Please excuse me," he said, tapping meaningfully on his helmet. "Urgent business just came up, but I'd love to continue this later. Why don't you try the canapes? I hear they're delicious."

Letting Donnie and April deal with Mikey for the moment, Leo edged away, taking care to avoid that girl in the white dress. He casting his gaze around the crowded ballroom until he located his brother on the other side.

"_This is so unfair!_" Mikey whined, mid-protest. _"I put my life on the line for the fate of the entire planet, and I don't even get _one_ glass of champagne? Last time he was at one of these, Casey had, like, ten."_

Suppressing an inward shudder at the thought of having to drift with an intoxicated Mikey, Leo switched back over to internal communication. "Casey's over twenty-one. And why do you think he and Raph aren't at this gala?" Considering that Casey's last gala foray had ended with him threatening to punch the Canadian ambassador during a dispute over hockey, it was going to be an awfully long time before Casey was going to see the light of a ballroom again. "Just keep schmoozing, Mikey. Talk to that girl in the white dress. Takahashi said her dad's on the fence about funding the program."

"Talk to the girl in the white dress_," _Mikey mimicked, earning him a glare from Leo, despite the fact that he couldn't see it. After all the drifting, he was almost positive Mikey could _feel _it. "_Dude, why don't you talk to her?_"

Leo felt his face growing red. At least _that_ was hidden from Mikey, thought it'd be obvious to Donnie and April as they monitored his vitals. "I tried. She thinks _Space Heroes: A Generation Reborn_ is infinitely superior to the original. We… may have had words."

The groans of his siblings over the comms didn't put Leo in the best of moods to begin with, but Mikey's dismissive wave nudged him over the edge. "_Look, dude,_" Mikey said, "_you can clean up your own nerd messes. I'm gonna go talk to who I wanna talk to._"

"Mikey," Leo began, glaring hard enough to put a hole in his visor. "You know we have obligations that we need to-"

"_Uh, Leo? Mikey's comms are off,"_ Donnie broke in, and Leo could hear him trying not to laugh.

"Don, it's not funny," Leo protested. "She was really mad when I told her that Captain Dicksyon could never hope to be half the commander that Ryan was. She threw her drink at me."

A burst of hastily muffled giggling burst over the comms, followed shortly by the sound of a scuffle. "_Don't worry about it, Leo,"_ April's strangled voice replaced Donnie's.

Leo heaved a weary sigh. "_Et tu_, April?"

"_I'm sorry, Leo. Honest."_ The word dissolved into a giggle, until she cleared her throat and continued in a more normal tone. "_Where's Mikey now?"_

Rolling his eyes, Leo looked across the room at his brother. "Talking to a girl in a green dress. She's not on Takahashi's list."

"_Maybe that's a good thing," _April said. Leo could hear the squeak of the chair over the comms that told him she'd settled in cross-legged, the way she did whenever she got serious. "_You've been working hard lately. Why don't you take the time to just enjoy yourself for once? Talk to someone who isn't on Takahashi's list. Ask someone to dance."_

Leo snorted. "Dance?"

_"I know you can; you've been my partner enough times at those things. Even with the drivesuit, you're still lighter on your feet that half the stuffed shirts there. Have _fun_, Leo. Pretend it's that episode where Ryan and Virtue crash the ambassador's ball to look for that bioweapon."_

"Ryan got shot in that episode," Leo pointed out, and could hear another chorus of giggling from Donnie in the background.

"_Don't get shot,"_ April said flatly.

There was another brief sound of scuffling, and Donnie's aggrieved voice cut back in. "_Hey, Leo, considering that I have to drift with her in about sixteen hours, could you please stop antagonizing my co-pilot?"_

"I thought it was important to be accurate!"

"_Not when it makes April annoyed. Seriously, you have no idea what the inside of her head is like when she's ticked."_

_"I'm standing right here, Dee."_

_"Oh come on, you know what happens when you drift mad."_

_"...okay, point."_

Trapped in his suit and unable to drown out his siblings without breaking regulations and powering down his comms, Leo just leaned back against a wall and shook his head. But as he watched the dancers swirling around on the floor, he found his eyes drawn to one in particular, right on the edge of the dance floor. His brow furrowed as he watched her, trying to figure out exactly what it was that had caught his attention. She wore a bright blue dress laced with gold threads, which set off her dark complexion rather prettily, and he was always a sucker for blue. But that still wasn't it… Her black hair hung down her back in tiny braids tipped with blue and gold beads that swayed as she moved-

Leo gasped, and April was instantly back on the comms demanding to know what was wrong.

"_Wrong?" _Raph's voice, which had been intermittent in the background as he argued with Casey over something, grew suddenly louder. Raph was no doubt peering over April's shoulder now. "_What is it, Chief?"_

"That girl," Leo whispered, keeping his gaze focused on her so that his suit cams would pick her up. "She's doing Lieutenant Virtue's Dance of Transmogrification."

There was a moment of stunned silence before his helmet speakers flooded with riotous laughter.

"Shut up, you guys," Leo muttered.

After a minute, he heard shoving and arguing, and April came back on. "_Is she on Takahashi's list?"_ she asked, her voice soft beneath the jibing of his brothers and Casey behind her.

"No," Leo replied.

"_Well then. What are you waiting for?"_

What _was_ he waiting for? Leo was the first to admit that he took his job seriously. Perhaps _too _ seriously, sometimes, but how could he not, having seen firsthand what the consequences of failure would be? But nobody could ask him to give more than he already had to the cause. Even after- He aborted that thought quickly, but not before a phantom twinge ran through him, radiating from the holes in his carapace. But… surely after all of _that_, he'd earned the right to dance with someone who wasn't on the list. Just once.

A few steps carried him across the dance floor to where the girl danced, lost in the music. Strange, how he could engage a kaiju without a batting an eye, but this simple action had his heart racing and his drivesuit cyclers engaging to dry his sweaty palms before they interfered with the circuitry. Mustering his courage, he reached out to tap the girl on the shoulder.

His touch had her whirling on him, brows furrowed in annoyance and mouth already open, likely to tell him off. But when she saw who it was that stood behind her, her eyes widened, and whatever she had been about to say turned into something that sounded more like, "hhaaaaaaggghhh!"

"Hi," Leo said, offering his hand. "Leo Hamato. I was wondering if maybe you'd like to dance?"

She let out a short burst of laughter before clapping a hand over her mouth, seizing his hand with her other one. "Oh gosh," she said through her fingers. "I know. Who you are." Her muffling hand dropped to join her other one in the enthusiastic shaking. "Of course I do. I mean, hi." She glanced down, and realized that she'd been pumping his hand through her entire stammered introduction, and let go as though he'd burned her. Placing a hand over her eyes, she drew a deep breath, and when she lowered it again, she'd regained some of the composure she'd had during the dance he'd interrupted. "Can I try again?"

"Sure." Grinning behind his visor, Leo extended his hand once more. "Leo Hamato."

She shook it briskly and efficiently, tossing her braids over her shoulder. "Dominique Williams. Dom, if you like. It's a pleasure to meet you." Smiling, she added, a little more shyly, "and I'd love to dance."

Shifting his hold on her hand, Leo pulled her a little closer, slipping an arm around her waist. Her hand was trembling a little as it drifted up to rest on his shoulder, and she had an awkward moment as she tried to figure out which part of the drivesuit was the most comfortable place to leave her hand. Gently, Leo reached up and guided her to the spot April always used. Then, once she'd settled, he tugged her out into the swirl of dancers.

That, at least, was the easy part. He'd trained for this like he'd trained for ninjutsu, and once the music swelled, his body took over. But conversation? _That_ was harder. So often, when he danced with people who weren't his adopted sister, it was because they needed to discuss politics or Shatterdome business, and he was suddenly finding that he had no idea how to just _talk_ to a girl. The silence was starting to get awkward.

_Think, Leo. She likes Space Heroes. What would Captain Ryan do?_ But after that train of thought quickly went to a very bad place, he amended hastily, _what would _Mikey_ do?_

"So, I have to admit," he said, "it takes a lot of guts to do the Dance of Transmogrification in front of a room full of people who've never even heard of a Nexian."

Dominique stumbled, and Leo quickly tightened his hold on her until she'd gotten her footing back. The look she gave him was one of sheepish embarrassment, but her steps, at least, betrayed no more of her mortification. "So, it's true, then," she said. "You _are_ a fan."

"I never missed an episode when I was fifteen," he admitted. "Except the last one, but it was kind of an emergency. I got caught up a couple years ago, though." The music changed, swelling in a burst of intensity, and he spun her into a dip, and she was breathing a little harder when he pulled her back up again. "And you? I mean, you've watched it enough to get the dance perfect."

"_Nerds!"_ Raph's voice burst over his comms. Frowning, Leo ignored it.

"Yeah," Dominique said, oblivious to the interruption. "I always liked the show. I mean, it was cheeseball and terrible sometimes, but Virtue was pretty awesome. And it was nice to see a brown girl getting stuff done, y'know?"

"Yeah-" Sensing an inebriated diplomat on a collision course as he ambled in pursuit of a trio of young ladies who had just entered the ballroom, Leo deftly steered Dominique out of the way. "Looking back on it now, Ryan's not quite as noble as I remember." That earned him a snort from his dance partner. "But that show was the first time I really understood what a hero was. And that I wanted to be one."

Dominique glanced at the PPDC insignia on Leo's armour. "Is that why you signed up?"

He was suddenly glad for his visor, which hid the grimace that flashed across his face as a tide of memory surged in response to her innocent words. Darkness. Pain. Grief. A young girl's voice crying out for her grandmother. Cold hands in a dark room, delighting in their cruelty. But his voice was level again when he answered,"I had a lot of reasons for enlisting. That just happened to be one of them."

"I'm sorry," Dominique said, looking away. "That was really rude. The war gave us all reasons, and I shouldn't pry."

"No, it wasn't," Leo answered softly. "It's actually kinda nice to have someone care _why_ I do it for a change instead of just, erm, screaming about it."

Dominique's mouth quirked. "Lots of fangirls, huh?"

Leo gave a polite cough. "They're… enthusiastic." He tugged her sharply out of the way again as another couple was propelled into their path. Glancing around the ballroom, he hummed quietly. "There are an awful lot of teenage girls here for a fundraising gala."

Tensing, Dominique turned, her braids sweeping across Leo's arm, and she let out a quiet curse under her breath. "Damn," she muttered. "I didn't think they'd actually go through with it."

Leo's hand tightened around her waist, the warmth gone from his voice. "With what?"

"_Leo?_" Anxiety tinted Raph's voice as it broke across the speakers. "_Your vitals are spiking. What's going on?"_

Dominique gave a frustrated huff. "Okay, so you know the First Platoon of Theta Andari?"

Leo blinked in surprise. "My spacenik fanclub?" He took another look at the throng of teenage girls ringing the ballroom. "Wait - I'm being ambushed by my spacenik fanclub?" Laughter once again exploded over Leo's comms. Finally done with it, he switched them off and turned his attention back to Dominique.

"It was on the fan boards. Originally it was just going to be a meetup, but some of them got it into their heads that if they could just get you _alone_, like Virtue and Crankshaw in the Cave of Evermore, you'd take off your helmet for them and show them your real face."

"Where would they get an idea like _that_?" Leo asked incredulously.

"From your last interview," Dominique answered.

Belatedly, Leo recalled the particularly flustering interview he and Mikey had given post-Yamarashi, and vaguely recalled a stammered promise to reveal his face to a girl in a teal wig if they'd ever gotten trapped in a cave together.

"Oh, _dammit."_

"Yeah," Dominique sighed. "I made a few posts trying to talk them out of it, but then I had to go get ready." She blinked up at him. "I swear my being here has nothing to do with the First Platoon."

Leo surveyed the assembled throng, feeling the glaze creep across his vision as the ninja took over. "There's not that many of them. I can take them if they try anything."

Dominique smacked him in the shoulder. It didn't hurt - the drivesuit absorbed the impact and elicited a string of colourful profanity from Dominique under her breath - but it got his attention. "What?"

"They're not kaiju," she whispered emphatically, glancing over her shoulder at them. "You can't just go hitting a bunch of giggly teenage girls just because they're about to do something phenomenally stupid. That's not gonna help you fundraise."

"Uh, right. I knew that." Leo cleared his throat, suddenly at a loss. Kaiju, ninjas, and alien robots he could deal with. Overexcited fangirls? Not so much. "What do we do?"

"Nothing wrong with a strategic retreat," Dominique said, gesturing toward the doors at the far end of the ballroom that led to the rest of the club. "I say when the song ends, we make a break for it."

Leo nodded, spinning her around as the music built up to its finale, every spin bringing them a little closer to the door. As the final notes sounded and the dancing couples broke apart to applaud, Leo grabbed Dominique's wrist and bolted toward the doors.

They barrelled past a surprised blond girl in a minidress that looked suspiciously like an Space Heroes uniform, and threw themselves against the doors until they clicked closed again in the little blond girl's face.

"Here," Dominique said, unslinging the little purse that dangled from her shoulder and using it to tie the crash bars on the doors together. No sooner had she done so than the doors shuddered beneath a powerful blow, and Dominique stumbled back into Leo. "Damn," she muttered. "She's got a hell of a punch for a tiny white girl."

More pounding fell upon the doors. Backing slowly away, Leo glanced at his dance partner. "I don't think that's going to hold them long."

"I know that's not going to hold them long," Dominique snorted. "Think I could afford a real brand name after what I spent on these shoes? That's a knockoff. I give it two minutes, tops."

"Then let's find another way out," he said, offering her his hand.

"Okay, but no more sprinting," Dominique said, placing her hand in his and following him up a short flight of stairs. "I'm amazed I didn't break an ankle doing that in these heels."

"You want to take them off?"

"Are you crazy? And risk losing them? Did you not hear the part about spending a fortune on them?"

"Okay, okay." Leo switched his HUD to night vision, and found himself staring at some kind of barren space surrounded by curtains. "What am I looking at here?"

"I don't know," Dom supplied. "It's dark. My guess is that your folks only rented the big ballroom, and this is one of the little ones. Stage setup, maybe? Isn't that what swanky places like this do?"

"I wouldn't know," Leo said. "I don't normally get to leave the big room." An ominous creak sounded behind them, and he tugged her toward the curtain. "Come on. There's got to be a door on the other side of-"

"Leo, wait!" Dominique called, but too late. As he shoved his way through the curtain, his foot came down on air, and he had just enough presence of mind to let go of her as he toppled forward into empty space. The fall wasn't far, but he got tangled in something on the way down, so the landing was less than elegant, and accompanied by a rattle of cans.

He heard a click, and his visor flared as the night vision overloaded. Cursing, he switched back to normal vision, blinking the stars from his eyes.

"Sorry!" Dominique called from behind the curtain. "I found the lights. Probably should have warned you." Her voice grew louder as the curtains parted and she paused at the edge of the stage Leo had just so gracefully flung himself off of. "I-" but her breath caught in her throat and she clapped her hands over her mouth.

It took Leo a moment to realize that she was vainly trying to stifle hysterical laughter. Glancing down at himself, he suddenly understood why.

The thing he'd tangled himself in was a banner reading "PROM NIGHT: PRETTY IN PINK." He lay in the midst of several open cans oozing paint of a particularly obnoxious Kraang pink, as well as several now-demolished murals on craft paper that the enterprising prom committee had left out to dry.

His drivesuit was covered in pink paint, glitter, and feathers.

"This," he said quietly, "is not funny."

"No, no," Dominique squeaked. "Not at all. Still, nice to know rich kids can still have prom in the middle of a war. Even if they do have to go DIY for it."

Anything Leo might have said in response was drowned out by the crash from behind the curtains. Leo leaped to his feet and held out a hand. "Come on!"

"Shoes!" Dominique cautioned as she jumped from the stage. Leo caught her around the waist to cushion her landing and make sure that her admittedly stylish blue heels didn't cause her to break an ankle.

Grabbing her hand again, Leo tugged her away from the high-pitched roar of voices that was swelling behind the curtain. "Hurry," he urged, as quietly as he could.

"Easy for you to say." Dominique's breath was coming in ragged gasps. "You try running in heels."

"No thanks," Leo shot back, an edge of laughter in his voice. "I'll leave that to my brother. He's scarily good at it. Great balance."

"Do I want to know?"

"He had to teach my sister to walk in them once."

"Not really helping clear that up any."

Skidding the last few feet, Leo hit the door on the far end of the smaller ballroom and crashed through with Dominique in tow. The corridor beyond was tastefully decorated, dotted with antique tables crowned with towering bouquets of flowers, and the lighting fixtures dripped with crystals. Screaming voices drifted down the hall from the direction of the gala, and Leo immediately tugged Dominique the opposite way.

The hall ended in a set of elevators, which did not respond in the least to repeated punching of the button. Finally, as the swell of chatter grew louder, the doors slid open with a polite _ping. _"About time," Leo breathed, and darted in, but he encountered unexpected resistance as Dominique balked at the doors.

"Wait-" Dominique began.

A particularly strident voice cut above the others from the hallway. "_I'm gonna rip his head off._"

"No time!" Leo yanked on her arm and caught her as she stumbled against him. The elevator doors slid closed just as the bevy of smartly-dressed Spaceniks rounded the corner and charged, screaming, toward the elevators. Only when the car started moving without any sign of intervention did Leo sag against the wall with a sigh of relief.

"Jerk!" Dominique shouted, smacking him on the arm. Immediately, she let out a vicious curse and grabbed the fingers she'd bruised on the drivesuit.

"What?" Leo asked. "You really wanted me to leave you out there? Did you see the looks on their faces? They would have ripped you apart."

"Okay," Dominique admitted, folding her arms with only the slightest hint of a scowl. "That's probably true. But did you have to choose the elevator?" She rubbed at her arms, glancing around at the mirrored walls. "It's kind of small in here."

Comprehension dawning, Leo smiled behind the visor. "Don't worry, we're not going far. Just a couple of-"

His words cut off abruptly as the elevator stopped with a jerk, and he reached out to catch Dominique as she stumbled, just before the elevator plunged into darkness. The red emergency lights blinked on a second later, and Leo let out a soft oath. "Those Spaceniks are surprisingly resourceful," he began, but the joking note dropped out of his voice as he saw the look on Dominique's face.

"Hey," he soothed, resting a hand against her shoulder. "We'll be fine. Donnie'll just-"

Belatedly realizing his comms had been off the whole time, Leo let out another oath in Japanese and switched them back on, to be met with nothing but static. "Damn. Must be something in the elevator," he muttered. "Never mind, we'll just- whoa!"

She'd been breathing strangely as he talked, but he barely had any warning before her knees buckled, taking him down with her as he attempted to cushion her fall. "Dominique!" He patted her cheek as gently as he could in the drivesuit. "Dom, talk to me."

She blinked, her vacant gaze focusing as he called her name. "I- sorry." She shuddered. "I just… really don't like tiny spaces."

Guilt sucker punched him in the gut, and he took her shoulders in his hands. "I'm sorry. I really am. Just tell me what I can do, okay?"

Dominique nodded. This close, he could see the sweat beading on her brow. "Just talk to me."

Leo gave a wry laugh. "Boy, do you ever have the wrong Ranger. Mikey could talk your ear off. Me? If it's not about the Shatterdome, conversation's never really been my strong point."

She managed a shaky smile. "You did okay tonight."

"Tonight involved Space Heroes." Inclining his head, he amended, "the Shatterdome and Space Heroes are both acceptable topics of conversation."

Her smile widened a little. "I'm sorry they ruined it, then." She looked up at him, brushing aside the braids that had fallen across her face and hooking them behind her ear. "I was having fun."

"Me too," Leo said, and obviously did a terrible job at hiding the surprise in his voice, because it earned him a laugh from her.

"Are fancy parties really that bad?" she asked.

"Let's just say I don't usually run into dance partners who know the Dance of Transmogrification."

Dominique groaned, hiding her face in her hands. "I'm never living that down, am I?"

"Nope." Carefully, he eased his grip on her shoulders, satisfied that she was a bit more steady. Probably not a good idea to try standing up again just yet, though. He settled for sitting back, resting his carapace against the wall of the elevator.

"Jerk."

"Just be glad it's me and not my brother Raph." Leo laughed, gazing up at the emergency lights. "Then again, he'd never have recognized the dance in the first place."

"Hey, Leo?"

Something in her voice caught his attention, and he looked back at her. She was staring at him, uneasily twisting her braids over her shoulder. "Yeah?" he asked warily.

"Why _do_ you never take your helmet off?"

He grinned again, but there was little true humour in it. "Shatterdome orders," he said, affecting the cocky tone Mikey had perfected when he usually fielded that particular question. "Preserves the sense of mystery."

"Oh," Dominique answered quietly. "I was just wondering if it's because you don't want people to know the turtle thing isn't just a gimmick."

Leo felt himself grow cold as he stared at her. There was no way - she'd been so honest. So sincere. Had he really been stupid enough to blunder his way straight into a trap? His hands slowly clenched, aching for his katana. "What do you mean?"

She wasn't stupid. She could read the signs, he'd give her that. "Not what you think, clearly," she said. "But I'm not a city kid. I moved here from the sticks in 2012. And I did exactly what they tell you never to do in New York. I looked up a lot." She shrugged. "And one night… well, I think you can probably guess what I saw. I looked up all the time after that, and I wasn't exactly in a nice neighbourhood. I saw a lot of really weird stuff. And then the kaiju showed up, and not long after, four Rangers show up in suits modelled to look like their turtle-shaped Jaeger." She raised a hand to tap at her temple. "Doesn't take a genius."

This was worse than the Pulverizer. Splinter was going to kill him, and Takahashi was going to dance on his corpse. But he wasn't about to admit anything. She could be bluffing. She could be Foot. Hell, she could be _anything. _How the hell had he managed to let himself get locked in an elevator with a complete stranger? "Assuming this fairy story of yours isn't completely insane, why would you let me near you if you believed I was some kind of monster?"

"'Cause I _lived_ in that neighbourhood. I heard the stories. How the people who roughed you up and made your life hell would show up gift-wrapped for the cops by some mysterious vigilante-types. You don't look out for the little guy if you're… I don't know. A kaiju?"

"I wouldn't use that word," he muttered. "And I'm supposed to believe you saw these things and never said a word to anyone?"

Dominique shrugged. "The world doesn't have enough heroes as it is," she said. "Who am I to make things harder for 'em?"

A sudden jolt set the elevator to rocking, and Leo found himself reaching for her instinctively as she cried out in panic.

"Easy, just breathe," he said. "They're probably just getting the elevator working again."

"And that's a _good_ thing?" she said, clutching at his arms.

Leo considered just whom they might find waiting if the doors opened. "Good point," he said. "No sense waiting around here, then. We're going to make our own way out."

"Oh, thank God," Dominique breathed.

He was probably an idiot for trusting her at this point, but she wasn't the one who'd been threatening to rip his head off earlier, either. Rising to his feet, he turned his back on her and leaped, holding himself in place with a split as he punched the trapdoor in the roof until it opened. Pulling himself through, he turned around and looked back at the girl still kneeling on the floor. "You're gonna have to help me, here."

Taking her lip between her teeth, she nodded and pulled herself up the wall. She was shaking, but managed to keep herself upright as she reached for his outstretched hand. In another few moments, he had her free of the elevator, and her sigh of relief echoed off the walls of the shaft.

"One thing still bothers me," Leo said, as he scaled the wall and examined the doors on the next floor up.

Dominique tilted her head. "Which is?"

He glanced down at her. "What were you doing on the First Platoon's boards in the first place?"

She gave a sharp little cough, looking up at him in utter mortification before her shoulders sagged in defeat. "Okay. Fine. Imagine this-" her hands framed her face "-underneath a teal wig."

Bright sunshine. An interview in times square. A girl in a Lieutenant Virtue costume, stammering out that if they'd been trapped in a cave together, she'd have told him her true name…

"That was _you_?" Leo's incredulous voice bounced off the walls.

Dominique rolled her eyes. "It was my first celebrity meeting, okay? I was nervous."

Shaking his head, Leo strained against the doors and forced them open. "It's a small world."

"Wrong megafranchise," she said, holding up her hand. "Now help me out of here."

It took no time at all to free her from the elevator shaft, and they retreated into the reassuring quiet of the club's uppermost floor. After the chaos, it was a welcome reprieve. But it also gave him time to think about what she'd said. He wanted to trust her, but how could he? Did she _know_, or was she just guessing? Could he have her brought in to the Shatterdome for questioning without blowing their cover? He sighed. _Why_ couldn't April have come with them?

"Dom…" he began.

"Let's find a way out first, and then we'll worry about awkward conversations." She gestured down the junction of the hall they'd come to. "You check that way for stairs, I'll check this one, and we'll meet back if we find a way out."

Leo opened his mouth to reply, but she was already heading down the hall, leaving him staring after her with one finger raised. At a loss, he lowered his hand and slunk down his own hallway.

That turned out to be a wash, dead-ending in a bunch of fancy hotel rooms and the most ornate ice machine he'd ever seen. As he headed back down the hall, his resolution grew. He couldn't let her leave without determining if she was a risk to him and his family. She'd have to come back with him to the Shatterdome, that was all, so April could have a look in her head, and if she wasn't sincere then… then…. they'd just have to keep her there for the rest of her life.

Leo groaned. _Spectacular plan, O Great Leader. Why don't you lock her in a tower and make her scrub the floor while you're at it._

"Look, Dom," he said, as he rounded the corner. "We need to talk-"

He froze in his tracks. Dominique stared at him with a brow raised. "Yeah, I think we do."

Behind her stood the little blond girl from the ballroom. She had a phone in one hand, and the other held a gun pointed at Dominique. Her eyes widened as Leo came into view, but despite the fact that the hand holding the gun was trembling a little, the look on her face was one of smug satisfaction.

"Let's talk," the girl said. "But first, you're gonna take off your helmet."

"Oh, come off it, Blondie," Dominique groaned. "Whatever the tabloids are paying you, it ain't worth it."

Blondie shook her head. "Shut up. This isn't about money. This is about what's RIGHT."

"Oh great," Dom muttered.

"So what is right?" Leo asked. "What exactly do you people want?"

"Oh, the other girls just want to live out their stupid fantasy from that stupid show-" Blondie began.

"It's not stupid!" Leo and Dominique chorused.

The girl's face went a particularly frightening shade of red. "Shut _up!_ I'm here to show the world that our government is using the taxpayers' money to support monsters as bad as the kaiju."

_Oh. _Leo's heart sank. _Oh, no._

Dominique just folded her arms with a snort, giving a scornful glance over her shoulder. "Your Daddy tell you that?"

Blondie blinked at her, a line of confusion forming between her brows. "Yes?"

Dominique laughed. "Figures."

Leo looked from one to the other, and fervently wished that he'd let Mikey badger Donnie into installing miniaturized plasma cannons into the drivesuits. Or at least a compartment for a tanto. First thing he was gonna make Donnie do once they got home. Up close, he could have taken Blondie down without breaking a sweat, but there was no way he'd get close enough before she hurt Dom.

Finally realizing she was being made fun of, the girl's colour deepened even further, and she gestured with the phone. "Helmet off, freak."

"Don't," Dominique said.

"Wasn't planning on it," Leo answered, and took a small step toward the blond girl. "You're not a murderer."

"Maybe," the girl said, her eyes narrowing. "Maybe I wouldn't kill a human. But I'd kill a kaiju." The phone dropped to the carpet, and she had both hands on the gun as she brought it to bear on him. "Humans First," she whispered.

Leo was fully planning on doing… something heroic. Saving the day. Disarming the girl. Taking the bullet to save Dominique. Only before he could get one step toward her, Dominique's leg snapped up in a split-kick, sending the gun flying, her heel catching Blondie's face on the rebound. And as the girl reeled, Dominique was on top of her, taking her to the carpet and using the fancy sash on the insensate girl's dress to bind her wrists behind her.

All he could do was stare, gaping, as Dominique stumbled to her feet and pulled off her shoe, glaring at the snapped heel. "Dammit," she said, and tossed the shoe down next to the girl. "I _liked_ those shoes."

"Whaa?" was Leo's intelligent response.

Dominique reached into her cleavage, and Leo turned away reflexively. When Dom's amused snort made him look back, she was holding out a badge. "NYPD," she said. "We got word that Humans First may be trying something. I was assigned to look out for you." She considered a moment. "Well, I may have fought two detectives and another Spacenik on the beat for the job."

Despite the severity of the situation, Leo couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. If Mikey could hear this…

Humans First had been planning something.

His comms were still off.

Leo slammed his comms back open, ignoring Dominique's look of concern as a torrent of sound crashed into his helmet loud enough for her to hear it. Voices trained for crisis, but still holding the edge of panic for one who knew them well enough, tumbling over each other with enough order to be heard, but more alarm than should have been there for just a routine night out at a gala.

"_Handshake is holding. Raph, you're only at ninety-five." _April's voice was sharp with distress. "_Get back in alignment."_

_"You get back in alignment,"_ Raph snapped. "_I swear, if something's happened to either of them, I'm gonna-"_

_"We know what you're gonna do, shell for brains," _Casey snapped back, "_Now put those muscles you're so proud of showing off to work and stop letting me do all the heavy lifting!"_

_"Calibration at one hundred percent."_

_"Gantry engaged," _Donnie said. "_I've locked the homing signal into your nav display."_

_"We see it."_

"Donnie," Leo broke in at the first opening. "What-"

"Leo!" Donnie's voice reached the pitch only he was truly capable of, somewhere between a frequency only dogs could hear and breaking glass. "_What the hell is going on over there? Your comms are off, Mikey's are down, Mikey's vitals spiked at the same time yours did, and now _HIS HELMET'S OFF!_"_

Dread seeped through his carapace, flowing through his veins like ice. Mikey knew better. He would never, _never_ expose the family like that without reason. _Oh god… if anything happened to him, I'll-_

"Go," Dom said, planting her bare foot on Blondie's back. "I got this. Go kick some ass."

She looked like hell, one shoe on, hair dishevelled, covered in grime from the elevator shaft, and he wanted nothing more in that moment than to hug her until her ribs creaked. There was so much he needed to say. Allies were so few and far between these days, and to find one in so unlikely a place….

But he had no time. Instead, he bowed quickly, and raced toward the stairwell.

Donnie worked fast; security had cleared a path for him. Leo flew past the guards, wishing fervently that they'd been there half an hour ago, and tore through the ballroom toward the exterior doors, following the homing signal on his HUD. He could hear the gunfire now, cutting above the panicked shrieks of the guests. Despite the fatigue already drawing at his limbs, he pushed himself faster, desperate to reach his brother before his attackers did.

"Plasma cannons, Donnie. These suits needs plasma cannons."

"_Don't you start."_ Donnie couldn't hide the tension in his voice, but there was a thread of gratitude there as well. Donnie needed something to focus on just as much as Leo did.

He could see the fanatics now, and cold rage bubbled up from deep within him. They'd sent the bulk of their forces after Mikey. The cowards. But beyond them, the hulking form of Goongala rose slowly out of the water. A slow, feral grin crept across Leo's face.

Echoing his emotions, Raph's voice crackled through his comms. _"Don't worry, Chief. They're gonna regret messing with our little bro, I promise."_

"Ninja promise?"

"_There any other kind?"_

They were breaking apart, fear scattering them like seeds on the wind. But Mikey wasn't focused on them. He was focused on one figure fleeing up the beach, and though Mikey was fast, drivesuits weren't made for sand. His brother's quarry was getting away.

Leo couldn't have that.

Snagging the nearest thing remotely resembling a weapon as he leaped over the edge of the balcony, Leo raced across the beach as Mikey's prey turned to scream something over his shoulder. The man never even saw it coming when Leo's weapon - which turned out to be a frilly beach umbrella - caught him in the throat and took him down.

Trying to redeem himself, Leo struck the most heroic pose he could muster. For a moment, he couldn't figure out why Mikey was staring at him, until he glanced down at himself and remembered.

_Oh. Shit. Pretty in Pink._

"Dude," Mikey breathed. "What happened to you?"

"I don't wanna talk about it," Leo said flatly. "Where the hell is your helmet?"

"Right, right." Mikey ran to the end of the pier to retrieve it, jamming it back on his head just as the rest of the public arrived for the show. The visor was badly cracked, and Leo fought the urge to be sick as he thought about the kind of firepower that would have been strong enough to crack a faceplate meant to endure a kaiju attack.

"_Did you find him?"_ Donnie's panicked voice was shrill enough to make Leo's eardrums bleed. "_Is he okay?"_

"He's fine," Leo said. "We'll talk to the authorities and head back to base with Goongala."

"_Well, hurry up," _Raph chimed in. "_We're not exactly Cinderella's carriage here. And Casey's pissed that he didn't get to step on anyone."_

_"What good is a giant robot if you can't even squash a few goons in the name of justice?" _Casey said.

MIkey turned to face him, and Leo realized too late that the mirrored surface of the visor would be visible to his helmet cams. Leo's glittery, feathered reflection was perfectly visible to those monitoring back at base and over Goongala's monitors. A second later, four voices broke over his comms in the throes of hysterical laughter.

Leo rolled his eyes and went to talk to the authorities clustered on the edge of the beach, dreading facing them in his current bedazzled state.

But he didn't have to worry. Dominique met him first. She wore her badge on a chain around her neck now, and she'd found her purse somewhere, the broken strap tied through the straps of her shoes to keep them together. The smile on her face was sympathetic as she gestured over her shoulder. "Don't worry," she said quietly, so no one could overhear. "I got this covered. They'll need a statement from you and your brother at the Shatterdome later, but you're good to go tonight." She reached up and pulled a glittery gold feather from his helmet. "Go get cleaned up, hero."

With a soft laugh, Leo took the feather from her and tucked it into her hair. "I wanted to say-"

She waved a hand, cutting him off. "Nope. No mushy stuff. Go ride off into the sunset, before this gets awkward."

She was right, in a way. There wasn't really much he could say to express his gratitude for what she'd done for him and his family tonight. For what she'd done for them since she'd first figured out what they were and kept it to herself. For wanting to dance with him even suspecting what lay beneath the helmet. What words were enough to thank someone for that?

So he didn't say anything. He just took her gently by the arm and pulled her into the shadows by the wall, out of sight of the rest of the authorities. Then, he keyed in the codes to drop the mirroring on his visor.

Dominique's eyes widened and she drew in a sharp gasp, but there was no fear in the brown eyes that reflected his own face back at him. There was only a little wonder, for she knew exactly what the gesture meant. The smile that blossomed across her face was only a little crooked, and her fingers flowed into the Naxian Salute of Peace.

"_Korvah'tulai, _Mr. Crankshaw," she whispered.

"_Korvah'tulai, _Lieutenant Virtue."

"_Dooooorks," _came the whisper over Leo's comms, and he scowled.

"Shut up, Raph."

Trusting that Dominique would be true to her word, he was back with Mikey a few moments later. Resting a hand on his brother's shoulder, he switched off his comms, knowing what answer he'd get if they were on. There were some things that you could only share with your co-pilot. "You _are_ okay?" Leo asked quietly.

Mikey smiled behind the visor and butted his cracked faceplate lightly against his brother's. "I'm _fine_. These guys were lamer than the Purple Dragons. Nothing I couldn't handle."

"Good," Leo said, and he couldn't hide the relief in his voice. He switched his comms back on and slung his arm around Mikey's shoulders, tugging him toward the Jaeger. "Let's go."

The girl Mikey brought back with them was a surprise, and Leo didn't exactly approve. But his current sparkly pink state didn't exactly lend him a lot of authority at the moment. At the end of the day, he couldn't find it in him to argue too strenuously. Allies were few and far between, as he well knew. And if Mikey trusted her, who was he to argue?

* * *

Things didn't go back to normal straight away after that. Takahashi insisted on implementing new security measures, and though April had cleared Mikey's stray, Jane, pretty quickly, Raph took a lot longer to trust her given the whole trying-to-lead-Mikey-into-a-deathtrap thing. At least Raph _tried_ to hide the fact that he was following his brothers around the Shatterdome like a short, angry guard dog. And he never said anything about the fact that Leo needed to check up on Mikey sometimes during the night, just to reassure himself. Leo knew that Mikey could take care of himself - that he had, in fact, done better against a horde of heavily-armed nutjobs than Leo had against a little blonde girl with a tiny pistol - but that didn't stop him from needing to reassure himself anyway. Because if he didn't, that moment when he had feared that something had happened to Mikey reared its ugly head, and the yawning pit in his heart that gaped at the thought of losing his copilot could only be filled by seeing for himself that Mikey was still there.

It was almost a relief to get called into Takahashi's office to go over the new security procedures a month later. They were all pretty much what he'd expected, unpleasant as they were. Comms were to be left on at all times when off-base, without exception. Metal detectors at any future fundraising events. But the last…

"Sir," Leo said, tugging nervously at the edge of his flight jacket. "We're trained ninjas. Do you really think we need personal security?"

"I know exactly what you are, Ranger," Takahashi said, raising a finger to stroke the scar on his cheek. "But I also know it can't hurt to have backup. Besides." He straightened and gestured over Leo's shoulder. "I think you know our new recruit."

Her hair was caught in a neat updo, and she looked very different in the Shatterdome security uniform. The gun on her hip was new. But the smirk on her face was familiar, as was the brow she raised at him. "Sir."

Leo glanced at her tags. "Security Officer Williams, huh?"

Dominique shrugged. "This place has slightly crappier benefits but much better food. I figured I could go for a change of scenery."

"So," Takahashi said. "Can you live with this additional security, or is it too arduous on your warrior's honour?"

Leo felt his cheeks redden. God, he hated it when Takahashi got sarcastic. "Good choice, sir."

"I live for your approval, Hamato." He shoved a stack of papers at Leo. "Now go give your brother his new schedule. I don't think I've made enough of you miserable for one day."

Leo took the schedules from Takahashi and saluted before making his escape with Dominique in tow. Only when they'd made it into the elevator did he let out the breath he'd been holding. Leaning against the wall, he looked down at her, grinning. "No more claustrophobia?"

"Not when I'm with you, anyway." She flicked a finger at the stack of papers. "Is he seriously always like that?"

"No," Leo said. "Usually, he's worse."

The doors opened on a chorus of noise, and Leo found himself staring in dismay at a ring of cheering ground crew clustered around Raph and Casey, who appeared to be wrestling on the floor over who got the last danish with breakfast.

Dominique raised a brow as she leaned against Leo's shoulder. "You know, forget the benefits. I think I'm gonna like it here."


	6. Junior

Mikey didn't talk about it much, but sometimes, coming out of the drift was hard.

_Floating through fields of blue, memories glittering like stars in the dark. Warmth, and love, and shared moments carving out the landscape of their unison. Huddled beneath a water tower on a rainy night, taking refuge from the storm, snickering as they shared the gyoza that had been meant to be a treat for four, and never breathing a word to the others. Another bubble of memory, this time of muscles straining as two brothers grappled over the fate of a square-jawed action figure. Then, falling through an alien ship, the monster closing in, one brother pulling another to salvation, one brother leaving another behind. Visions in the endless drifting tide, this one of tears, and a skinned knee, and a bandaid covered in smiling characters. One brother caring for another, doing everything he could to bring a smile to the other's face. One brother becoming another. Blurring together. Unison._

_Drift._

In the drift, everything made sense. There was an order imposed on the normal chaos of his thoughts. It wasn't that it changed him - he was still _Mikey_. But in the drift, it felt like he was something more. Ordinarily, the exaltation of the kaiju kill kept him buoyant, adrenaline fuelling his mood and keeping the post-drift crash from affecting him. But today…

Wincing as the harness snapped out of his rivets, Mikey glanced over at Leo. "Is it me, or did it seem like that kaiju wasn't really trying?"

Leo released the clamps on his boots and straightened to regard Mikey in disbelief. "Seriously? That thing had our head in its mouth at one point, and you're upset it wasn't trying to kill us hard enough?"

"I wouldn't use the word _upset_," Mikey admitted, releasing his own boots. "But it wasn't as much fun as it usually is."

"Mikey, sometimes you have serious issues."

"_Guys?" _Donnie's voice crackled over the intercom. "_Did you cut anything off that kaiju before you killed it? I'm getting a weird ping on the sensors. Not nearly big enough to be a kaiju, but it's… I dunno. Kaiju-y."_

Leo exchanged a glance with Mikey, who shook his head. "No, not that we noticed," Leo answered. "We were kind of busy trying not to get eaten, though."

"_Probably just a sensor glitch, then. I'll recalibrate them in the morning."_

Mikey busied himself with unhooking his cables for a few minutes, but when he looked up, Leo was staring at him. Mikey flinched, wondering how much of his mood he'd let slip during the uncoupling.

"Hey," Leo said. "You wanna get some ice cream or something?"

Mikey wanted to say yes. Like, a lot. And not just because Leo was one of the few people on base who'd managed to crack the security locks on the freezer where Murakami kept the good stuff. But when he was feeling like this, being close to Leo was almost worse; it reminded him just how far apart they actually were. So instead, he just smiled brightly and waved a carefree hand. "Nah. Think I'm gonna take advantage of the dark and go for a walk on the beach. Rain check, okay?"

Leo looked skeptical, but eventually agreed, leaving Mikey to escape into the night.

With the exception of interviews and galas and things, which were always done in full drivesuits, leaving the Shatterdome to mingle with the general populace was absolutely out of the question. But after Takahashi had learned the hard way that Mikey had difficulties when he was cooped up in one place too long (and in his own defense, Mikey_had_ volunteered to get the feathers out of ventilation system afterward), Takahashi had granted permission for short trips outside, provided they did it at night and in places not populated by humans.

And so it was that Mikey found himself ambling down the beach, wearing pants (however reluctantly) and a hoodie beneath his flight jacket, the hood pulled up to obscure his face on the off-chance that he ran into any late-night beachcombers.

He slowed as he reached the pier, following the sloping sands to where the piles had been exposed by low tide. It smelled pretty funky down here most of the time, but sometimes he found some cool stuff washed up from the depths of the bay that made it worth braving the stank. He especially liked the pieces of glass that had been worn smooth by the waves, their jagged edges turned into something harmless and beautiful by the ceaseless work of the ocean. There was something really zen about that thought. Maybe, if he found enough of them, he could get Donnie to help him turn them into a mobile or something.

He froze as a soft sound reached him. Something sloshed in the shadows beneath the pier. "Hello?" he said quietly, squinting into the dark. "Is someone there?"

A low, growling rumble drifted from the depths. As Mikey watched, the shadows seemed to shift, to boil, and two points of light flared to life in the heart of the darkness.

Mikey staggered back, his heart in his throat as the growling intensified, and the creature stalked out of the night, its blue eyes as luminous as the heart of a flame.

"Kaiju…" he breathed.

With a bellow like the crash of thunder, the creature lunged. Mikey threw himself out of its path, hitting the ground rolling, and as he came to his feet, he had a long piece of driftwood in his hands. Swords may not have been his thing back in the day, but you didn't drift with a dude like Leo for years and not pick up a thing or two.

As the kaiju swung its head toward Mikey, he struck. His foot drove into the kaiju's jaw, and as the massive head recoiled, his makeshift weapon connected with the creature's eye.

He was expecting to piss it off. But as Mikey struck, the kaiju screamed in pain and retreated, curling itself around a pillar and burying its head beneath one scaly leg.

"Wait, what?" Mikey said, looking from his stick to the kaiju and back again. "Hey…"

Carefully, he took a hesitant step toward the kaiju. But instead of striking out at him, it just whimpered and attempted to climb further beneath itself. Mikey's brow furrowed as he crept closer, able to take in more of the thing as his eyes adjusted to the dark. The lines of its body looked almost crocodylian, like the kaiju they'd just fought-

Mikey's gasp echoed beneath the pier. "That was your _mom!_" This kaiju was just a baby. No wonder mama kaiju had seemed distracted. His heart sank as he looked at the shaking creature wrapped around the pillar. "You poor thing," he said gently. "You didn't ask to be born a horrible senseless monster of carnage and destruction." Well, it wasn't doing much destroying _now. _Tossing his stick aside, Mikey picked up a crab that was valiantly waving its claws at him, and held it out to the baby kaiju. "Come on, little dude. It's okay. Check out what I've got for you."

Blazing eyes emerged from beneath the scaled forelimb to regard the angry crustacean in Mikey's hand. In an instant, a tongue like a luminescent flower lashed out to grab the crab and reel it in. The hard shell crunched beneath razor jaws, and the kaiju shifted to look at Mikey. A low croon resonated deep in its throat.

"There you go, see? You're not so bad when the Kraang aren't behind the wheel." He held out a hand. "Come on. I'm sorry I kicked you. And hit you with a stick. It's okay."

The kaiju keened again and unwound from the pillar, splashing through the water to where Mikey stood. It butted his head against him, knocking him back into the water. Smiling, Mikey scratched at the base of the row of sharp spikes that crowned the kaiju's head. "There you go. Hey, you're kind of leathery."

_"There are times when I lose control. When I awaken, I am horrified by what I have done. A monster like me deserves to be chained."_

_"Or maybe you just think you're a monster cause everyone treats you that way."_

Placing a hand beneath the massive jaw, Mikey tilted the kaiju's head until he could see those gleaming eyes. "What do you think of the name 'Leatherhead Junior'?"

The kaiju regarded him for a moment before rearing back its head and letting loose a powerful sneeze.

Mikey wiped the glowing snot and flakes of crab shell from his face, and grinned. "I knew you'd like it! Come on. The sun'll be up soon, and it'll be _way_ harder to get you home during the day shift."

* * *

**MEMO**

**From: Marshal Takahashi**

**To: All Shatterdome Personnel**

It has been brought to our attention that the cow carcass delivered to the receiving dock that was to provide meals for the next week has gone missing. The person or persons who are responsible for the removal of the frozen bovine are strongly encouraged to return it at their earliest convenience, unless they enjoy eating dry cereal and reconstituted eggs with every meal.

* * *

**MEMO**

**From: Marshal Takahashi**

**To: All Shatterdome Personnel**

The person or persons responsible for putting holes in the Marshal's personal jeep are advised that the activities that resulted in said holes had best cease immediately. The repairs will be costly, and will be coming out of the salaries of the person or persons responsible. I know how much you won't enjoy that. I sign your paychecks.

* * *

**MEMO**

**From: Marshal Takahashi**

**To: All Shatterdome Personnel**

To the person or persons responsible for depositing the garbage bags full of refuse in the Shatterdome garbage collection: I will hunt you down. And when I find you, you will be cleaning out the latrines with a toothbrush until this war is over.

* * *

Mikey should have known it couldn't last. Junior was growing fast, and Takahashi was up to a memo a day, now. And with a very needy kaiju attempting to climb into bed with him at night and nearly crushing him in the process, he was more than a little sleep deprived, but he never thought it'd be ice-cream that gave him away. Yet, when Leo had asked him if he wanted that rain check on the ice cream, the words "nah, I gotta feed Junior" were out of Mikey's mouth before his brain had even finished forming them.

For a long moment, there was complete silence between them, Leo staring at him with impossibly wide eyes. Then, Leo was off and running, Mikey in close pursuit as they tore through the Shatterdome halls toward the officers' quarters.

"Leo, wait," Mikey pleaded, still not able to get close enough to his brother to grab him. Okay, maybe Splinter was right. Maybe Mikey _had_ been shirking his laps lately. He'd never had this much trouble outrunning his brothers back in the sewer days. But running rooftops and shredding the sewer pipes was so much more fun than running circles around boring grey halls; who could blame a guy for slacking? "Leo, you can't just burst in on him. _He's very sensitive!"_

Too late. Mikey's door was open. Thankfully, Leo stopped in the doorway to stare, his jaw practically on the floor. Mikey pounded up behind him and peered over his shoulder.

Junior, good boy that he was, had decided to hide under the bed. But given that Junior was now the size of the original Leatherhead, the bed was up somewhere near the ceiling.

"Welp," Mikey said. "You tried, buddy. That's the main thing."

"Mikey," Leo squeaked at a pitch Mikey hadn't heard since Leo's voice broke. "You can't just bring home a _kaiju!"_

"But Leo!" Mikey pushed past him and went to Junior, who tried to burrow his head beneath Mikey's arm, knocking him down in the process. Mikey struggled back to his feet, placing both hands on the kaiju's head. Glowing spit dripped to pool around his feet as Junior drooled in anxiety. "He's just a baby, and we killed his mom. I _had_ to bring him home!"

"The cow? _Takahashi's jeep_?"

"In hindsight, maybe letting him play cars with actual cars was a bad idea."

Leo closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Mikey, this thing-"

"Junior," Mikey corrected emphatically. "His name is Leatherhead Junior."

Leo opened his eyes again, and Mikey didn't say anything this time. Just stared at his brother, blue eyes meeting blue, as his hand gently stroked Junior's head. And slowly, as they stared at each other, Mikey felt a thread of something - something blue and ethereal and unbreakable - stir deep within him and span the distance between brothers.

Leo blinked, and they sighed in unison.

Making that noise of weary frustration that only Leo was capable of making, he closed the door and leaned against it. "Okay, but he can't stay here. Once it gets dark, we smuggle him back out, and then figure out what the hell we do with a giant monster of mass destruction."

"Baby giant monster," Mikey corrected, darting forward to throw his arms around Leo. "You are the best brother ever!"

Mikey could feel Leo's groan beneath his cheek. "I am so gonna get court martialed."

It took a flank of beef, an empty dumpster, and Leo's painful attempts at flirting with the guard stationed at the gate, but a few hours later, they were back on the beach where Mikey had found Junior. As Mikey sat on the sand with Junior's massive head in his lap (it had taken some disagreement about whether or not Junior was a lap kaiju before they had finally compromised on the arrangement), he leaned his head against Junior's. The glowing tongue scraped along his cheek, making him wince.

"Are you _sure_ he's not trying to eat you?" Leo asked quietly.

"Nah," Mikey said. "I mean, he's put my head in his mouth a couple of times since I brought him home, but I convinced him it was a bad idea eventually."

Soft footsteps in the sand drew closer, and Leo dropped down next to him. "Mikey, he has to go."

"I know," Mikey said, nuzzling the giant, scaly head. "But he's just a baby, Leo. What if another Shatterdome finds him? What if another Jaeger-"

He broke off, the words choking him, and he held Junior tighter. The kaiju crooned low in his throat, and the massive spiked tail curved to wrap around the brothers. On his other side, Mikey felt Leo's hand come to rest against his shoulder.

"I know, Mikey. I do. But he's still a kaiju. He was created to kill us."

"That's what they said about us in the lab, and you know that's where he'll go if they find him!" Mikey snapped, and instantly regretted it. He felt Leo go cold and still, and even though neither of them had moved, he could feel a distance growing between them. He let go of Junior and grabbed Leo's hand where it still rested on his shoulder. "Forget I said that," he said, and there was pleading in his voice. "That was dumb. Leo, come back." With heart and mind both, he reached for the bright spark that he had come to know in the drift as _Leo_, and wrapped everything he was around it, calling it home.

In answer, Leo shifted closer, resting his chin on Mikey's shoulder. "This war… I don't think it leaves anyone innocent."

"I know," Mikey said, absently tracing a finger over one of Junior's protruding fangs. "I just-"

Sirens shattered the night. Junior let out a howl, recoiling from the sound. Both brothers snapped to attention, turning toward the Shatterdome as it blazed with light. As they watched, the massive floodlights swept out toward the bay.

"Kaiju signature? _Now?"_ Leo's fists clenched. "Of all the rotten, lousy timing-"

Mikey shoved desperately at Junior's head. "You gotta go, buddy. Now. Raph and Casey are on duty, and if they find you…" his voice broke. Closing his eyes, he rested his head on Junior's, trying to ignore the tongue that wrapped around his wrist, seeking comfort. "You gotta go. One of your big bros is gonna come through the breach to try to kill us, and nobody's gonna stop if they think you're the backup. Go, buddy. Go."

Drawing a deep, shaking breath, Mikey desperately wished that Junior could understand. That he could see why Mikey was trying so hard to push him away. That he could see why they'd had to kill his mom in the first place.

As he stood there, encircled by the trembling kaiju, something deep within his mind stirred, reaching out across an impossible divide. And for a moment, just a moment, something connected.

Junior screamed, rearing back, and only Leo's hand locking on his shell and yanking him out of the way saved Mikey from being flattened by the lashing tail as Junior dove toward the ocean.

"Junior!" Mikey called, but Leo's firm hand held him back.

"Let him go, Mikey," Leo said.

Not that there was much choice. Mikey stood next to his brother, wet sand seeping between his toes, as Junior's spiked ridge disappeared beneath the waves.

Leo, being Leo, had already opened a channel to the Shatterdome, and Mikey could hear Donnie updating him over the comms. Mikey wrapped his arms around himself, chilled despite his flight jacket, as Goongala's massive bulk splashed into the bay.

"_Signature is on approach,"_ Donnie said. "_You guys better get back here. It's coming fast and we may need the backup if- wait! There's another signal! I thought I fixed that glitch._"

Mikey exchanged a horrified look with Leo.

"_Second signature is on a fast intercept with the first- this isn't possible. It looks like… there's another kaiju. And it's taking on the big one."_

"Donnie." Leo's hand tightened on Mikey's shoulder. "What's happening?"

"_I- I don't believe it." _Donnie's voice held a note of wonder. "_We've never seen anything like this. Both kaiju signatures… terminated."_

_"Aw man!" _Raph broke in over the channel. "_We don't even get to hit anything?"_

_"Weak, dude."_ Casey added. "_We got all dressed up for nothing. This is a trend I'm really starting to hate."_

Leo closed the channel. Mikey stared down at the water lapping at his feet, watching the stars reflecting in the dark waves. The warm, heavy weight of Leo's arm wrapped around his shoulders.

"Come on, Mikey. Let's go home."

* * *

Mikey went out as much as he could over the next few weeks. The noise and the laughter in the Shatterdome were a comfort in some ways, but sometimes, even though his was genuine, the laughter exhausted him, and he needed to get out by himself for a bit. Just to think.

He sat on the darkened beach, watching the waves carry bits of flotsam in and out on the tide. A long stick of driftwood washed up next to him, and he plucked it out of the water, staring at it for a moment with a faint smile before he flung it out as far as he could, listening for the splash as it struck and vanished beneath the surface.

"Hey."

Leo's voice was soft, barely audible above the surf. But these days, it didn't need to be more.

"Hey, Leo."

Mikey could feel the warmth radiating from his brother as Leo moved to stand next to his shoulder. Maybe he _had_ been out here too long. He hadn't realized he was so cold.

"Watcha doing?" Leo asked.

"Having a think," Mikey said, and dug at the sand with his toe.

"Wanna have a think inside? It's movie night. Raph and Casey are about to get into a fight over whether we're watching a horror movie or a romantic comedy."

Mikey blinked, and glanced up at Leo. "Who wants what?"

"Come find out. It might surprise you." Smiling, Leo held out his hand.

Mikey only hesitated a moment before reaching out and letting Leo haul him to his feet. As he stood, a wave slightly larger than the others washed around their ankles, and Mikey felt something brush against his foot. Reaching down, Mikey pulled the same driftwood he'd just thrown out of the water.

Only this time, there were long scratches in the wood. Deep in one of them was a faint glow, as though from luminous saliva.

"Mikey?" Leo asked. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Mikey said. Smiling, he turned and hurled the wood back out across the water. "Yeah, I think I am."

"Come on." Leo slung his arm around Mikey's shoulders. "If you keep quiet about it, I'll steal you some ice cream."

"Aaand maybe this time tell your favourite brother the code to Murakami's freezer?"

"Don't push your luck, little bro."

Grinning, Mikey continued to egg Leo on as they headed back down the beach toward home, pausing only once to pick the same chewed piece of driftwood out of the surf and fling it back into the depths of the star-studded ocean.


	7. Spindrift

Raph shivered as the wind crept down the collar of his flight jacket. Proud as he was of the newly-minted Goongala logos stitched to the thick leather, he wished that he'd left it behind. He'd stuck to Takahashi's stupid leaving-the-Shatterdome-attire rules, and he was starting to regret it. Full uniform plus hoodie with his flight jacket overtop, gloves, the hood up to hide his head, and a scarf to hide as much of his green skin as possible. He itched with the need to fling the whole thing off and run the roofs naked like he'd done when they were kids. But the only thing worse than going back to the Shatterdome right now was the thought of not being able to if he got himself kicked out of the corps.

The wind was up in the bay. From his perch on the roof, Raph could see the whitecaps painted orange by the setting sun. As the waves peaked, they broke into spindrift, the foam painting vibrant lines of spray along the darker surface of the water. His mouth quirked beneath the concealment of his scarf. He knew how that felt - to be carried along by something much bigger than you, and the moment you hit the highest peak, being cast off into the abyss.

* * *

_The lights came slowly online as the Conn-Pod powered up, and Raph could feel the thrum through his feet as the feedback cradles descended. He knew this was supposed to be a serious moment, but he couldn't stop the shit-eating grin from spreading across his face. "This is it. Ready to raise a little hell?"_

_Turning to the Conn-Pod's other occupant, Raph's upraised arm was met by his partner's in perfect timing. This was going to be beautiful - they didn't even have to think about moving in sync drivesuits rang off each other as their forearms connected, left, then right, laughter pealing through their helmets when they butted their faceplates together. As they pulled apart, Raph was struck by the unmitigated joy in the blue eyes that met his behind the glass._

_He hadn't seen Leo this happy in a long time._

_Leo jerked his head toward the feedback cradles. "Come on. Time to punch in." He gave Raph a playful shove. "And no more arguing. I'm on the right."_

* * *

A scream echoed off the walls of an alley some distance away, and Raph sharply sucked in a breath. It had been too much to hope that a common enemy had finally given humanity a reason to stick together. The big conflicts may have been set aside to fight the Kraang and their kaiju, but the scum had trickled back to the street. Same old story. Never changed.

Raph grinned into the dark, a feral expression devoid of humour. _Now that's more like it._

Wind whistled around him as he leaped the gaps between rooftops, but he no longer felt the chill. This was old. Familiar. Ghosting from roof to roof toward the sound of the fight, the only sound he left in his wake was the soft rustle of fabric in the cold night air. He came to rest on a high ledge, his position mirroring the squatting gargoyle to his left. Narrowing his eyes from the depths of his hood, he gazed down at the scene unfolding below him.

The victim was on the ground, unmoving. No blood - probably just unconscious then, or smart enough to hold still as the jerks standing over him rifled through his wallet. The tattoos on the arms of two of them clearly identified them as Purple Dragons, though the camo on the third guy was new. Raph snorted and drew his sai, the metal singing softly as it left his belt. Didn't matter. He'd show these assholes what happened to anyone who threatened his town. Kaiju or creep, it was all the same to him. He'd take 'em all down.

He landed without a sound behind the punk with the wallet, the butt of his sai driving into the base of the mugger's skull. As that one crumpled, Raph was already on the other Dragon, his foot connecting firmly with the jerk's solarplexus and ensuring he couldn't sound the alarm. As Raph turned, driving for the third guy, he heard something behind him. Focusing through the cold haze that drove him, his stomach lurched as he realized that the sound was coming from the Dragons' unconscious victim. Not so unconscious after all.

"They were right. I can't believe that worked! _Now!_"

And suddenly, the guy in camo wasn't alone. Humans swarmed the alley, the wan light glinting off knives, and crowbars, and pipes, their voices raised in a ragged, furious battle cry. _Humans First._ Raph spared a brief moment to thank whatever perverse deities watched over them that it wasn't guns - Takahashi had organized the raids that had looted most of the hate group's stockpiles after Mikey'd brought Jane in - but the humans were loud, and angry, and they were legion. Raph struck out, not pulling his blows any more, but for every one he took down, there was another behind him or her to take their place.

Staggering back, Raph tripped over the asshole he now realized had been the bait. A blow to the head ensured that the fake victim wouldn't cause Raph any more trouble, but in the time it took to dispatch that one guy, another had appeared, and the crowbar the new attacker held was already on its way toward Raph's head. Raph braced himself, struggling to get his sai up in time even as he realized it was far too late.

The clash of metal rang through the alley. Raph stared at the crowbar that hung just inches from his face, but it wasn't the expected hockey stick or golf club that had stopped the blow.

It was a katana. And the turtle holding it was royally pissed off.

* * *

_He was okay when he stepped into the motion rig and the foot bolts locked around his boots, and the interface drivers being ratcheted into his backplate drove through his skull like a drill, but he could handle that, too. It wasn't until the arm extensors locked around his wrists and the restraining bolts of the harness drove through the rivets in his shell that his heart started to pound._

_"__We got this, Raph." Leo's voice sounded quietly over the internal comms, for his ears only. "Just like in the simulator. We've done this before."_

_Swallowing the panic rising in his throat, Raph gave an imperceptible nod and tried to focus on April's face as she finished cabling him in. She glanced up the second he got his expression back under control, making him wonder, not for the first time, just how much she was picking up from them these days. She gave him a quick, private smile before turning her attention to Donnie._

_"__Now don't forget," Donnie said, raising a finger. "Try to avoid anything too strenuous until you're in full alignment or you risk jogging the neural - MIKEY. DO NOT TOUCH THAT BUTTON."_

_Donnie hadn't even been looking at their youngest brother, but Mikey froze, his finger halfway to a large red emergency button on the auxiliary console. "But it's so shiny!"_

_"__No!" _

_Mikey groaned, folding his arms. "This is so weak! _I_ wanna drive the giant robot!"_

_"__It's not a robot, it's a mech," Donnie corrected. "It's important to be accurate. And I'd trust you in one about as far as I can throw you."_

_Mikey brightened at that. "Hey, that's pretty far!"_

_"__That's not what that- ugh!" Donnie let out a squeak of frustrated exasperation, and April finally took pity on him, putting an arm around Mikey's shoulders and steering him toward the door with promises of the next giant robot. Giving their systems one last check, Donnie gave them one last, anxious look before following April and Mikey out. At last, the door clanged shut, and the two eldest brothers were finally alone._

_"__Still with me?" Leo asked softly._

_Raph smirked. "Not getting rid of me that easy, Chief."_

_"__Hamatos, if you're quite finished getting tucked in, I would like to start this test sometime this century." Even over the intercom, Takahashi's voice was drier than the Sahara._

_Exchanging a glance with Raph, Leo grinned and reached up for the console. His face bearing the same expression as Leo's, Raph mirrored the movement. "Engaging drop, sir," Leo said. "In three… two...one…"_

_Together, they flipped the release, and the bottom dropped out of the world. _

* * *

The way Leo was glaring at him, Raph half-expected to sink through the ground at any moment. A second was all it took to make Raph feel completely worthless, and then Leo's attention was off Raph and back on the creep trying to brain him. Raph's attacker lasted all of two seconds before he went down, his camo stained with red.

"Nice of you to join the party," Raph quipped, cautiously feeling out his brother's mood.

"Of all the selfish, stupid, pigheaded things you've done in this past year, Raph, this one takes the cake."

_Okay, still mad_. Raph shuddered. He'd been getting used to the deeper voice; after about a year, it became apparent that the new pipes Leo'd acquired after their stay in the lab was permanent. But what he wasn't used to was the way that voice sounded when it went cold.

"Come on. I had this covered," Raph tried again.

"Covered? You nearly got yourself killed! It's bad enough when Casey's egging you on, but you-"

Leo broke off, and the wiry Purple Dragon who'd been trying to slip his knife under Raph's guard went down screaming, clutching the stump where his hand used to be.

Once, Leo would have done what he could to avoid lethal force. But Leo didn't mess around much these days, especially when his family was involved. That, at least, was something Raph could help with. Kicking out the legs of the guy closing in to his left, Raph flipped himself to his feet and landed with his shell against Leo's, guarding his back. He felt the change run through his brother, the tension palpable through his shell, and he tightened his hands on his sai. Leo was in full defense mode now. Time to clear a path before Leo did something he'd regret.

Bellowing, Raph rounded on their attackers. He could sense Leo's alarm, feel him keying up again, but Raph was already ploughing his way forward through the mass of armed goons, toppling them like bowling pins. They bunched together, moving to stand in Raph's way, but he'd done what he'd meant to do and cleared the space right in front of them. He let himself fall back, trusting Leo to pick off the few trying to come in from the side. Raph's hand dipped into the pocket of his flight jacket, and he grinned as his fingers closed over the familiar shape of a smoke bomb. _That _request had taken Donnie by surprise, but he'd been willing enough to go along with it. Raph still suspected that Donnie chafed under the restrictions of having to fill out paperwork and get approval before he could make modifications to anything on the base, from the Jaegers to Murakami's coffee maker. It made him a good resource to turn to when you needed something done on the downlow.

It wasn't until Raph's arm was high above his head that he saw the gun. Time seemed to warp, to stretch, but he was already in motion, too late to change course as the shot rolled through the alley like thunder. Then, he saw nothing but green, and the blue of his brother's eyes as Leo barreled into him.

An instant later, time snapped back into focus as the smoke from Raph's bomb swallowed them both, and Raph's arms were suddenly full of Leo's dead weight. "Leo?" Raph whimpered, but there was no response. Cursing, Raph grabbed Leo's arm and hauled him over his shoulder, bolting for a side alley as their attackers surged forward, choking on the smoke. Raph ran, barely feeling Leo's weight, only looking back to make sure they hadn't been followed as he gained the rooftops and bore his brother back over their old escape routes. His breath shuddering in his lungs, he slowed only when he was certain they were safe.

The watertower over April's old house had been empty for years, and he and Casey had staked it out as a suitable bolthole weeks ago. Breathing a silent sigh of thanks for his pig-headed partner, Raph carried Leo up the ladder and through the hole that a few good kicks and a liberal application of a hockey stick had knocked loose. Carefully, Raph settled Leo in the shelter of the tower and unzipped his flight jacket and hoodie. Shifting Leo's dog tags out of the way, Raph placed his hand on Leo's chest, feeling for the rise and fall of his brother's plastron beneath the fabric of his shirt.

"Leo?" Losing patience, Raph pushed his own hood back and ripped off his suffocating scarf, tossing it over his shoulder. He tried again to figure out what had happened, his eyes casting desperately over his brother in the dark, hands running over his skin. There was no blood. No tears in Leo's clothing. He couldn't find anything wrong. So why wouldn't Leo wake up?

"Enough napping, now talk to me. Yell at me, I don't care, just say _something_." Gently, he pulled Leo's hood down and tugged off his scarf, holding a hand in front of his brother's face just to reassure himself that Leo was breathing. He was, but the breaths were shallow. In the pale light that filtered into the tower, the faded scars on Leo's face seemed somehow to stand out more than usual, mocking Raph with the reminders of what happened when he failed to protect his family. He placed a careful hand on Leo's cheek. "Please, Leo…"

_There_. His littlest finger brushed over something on Leo's neck. Something that had no business being there. Letting loose with another burst of profanity, Raph pulled the dart loose, and quietly prayed that it wasn't anything worse that a tranq. Even that was bad enough.

"Leo. Time to rise and shine, Chief. Come on, bro." His hands closed on his brothers shoulders, tightening until he could feel the muscles beneath the bulk of Leo's flight jacket. "_Leo!_"

* * *

"Pilot-to-pilot connection protocol sequence: initiated."

_Raph suppressed a shudder as the synthesized voice of the AI echoed throughout the Conn-Pod. Trying hard to conceal his apprehension, he shifted in the harness as the Pod locked into the cervical assembly. With all the tech at their disposal, they couldn't have made the AI sound a little less...creepy?_

_Leo wasn't bothered by it. Typical Leo, he was running through protocol by the book. As the collar connected around the base of the Conn-Pod, Leo flipped the appropriate switches on his panel and confirmed the connection. "Shell Shocker reporting in, sirs. Pod is aligned. Ready to commence testing."_

_"__Rangers," Takahashi responded, "prepare for neural handshake." _

_"__Looking good, guys." Donnie's voice was tense with excitement, but that didn't stop the slight easing of Raph's anxiety at the reassurance that his brother was at the controls. As much as he hassled Donnie sometimes, in that moment, Raph didn't want anyone else at that switch. "Neural handshake in fifteen seconds… fourteen…"_

_Donnie and the AI continued counting down in sync, and Raph's pulse began to speed up._

_"__You ready for this?" _

_Raph glanced over at his brother and snorted. "You kidding? We spent fifteen years practically living on top of each other. Not that big of a step to being inside your swelled head."_

_Leo rolled his eyes, but he was grinning. "Just try to keep an open mind, hothead. You might actually learn something while you're in there."_

_"__Like how to do randori with a stick up my ass?"_

_"__Bite me, Raph."_

"Neural handshake: initiated."

_He'd read all the literature. Watched all the training vids. Run with Leo in the simulator hundreds of times. But nothing had prepared him for the reality of the Drift._

_It was like falling into one of the storm drains and being sucked into the maelstrom at the heart of them, except instead of finding cold, dark water, it was memories that surged to overwhelm him without rhyme or reason. _

...cold, and dark, and afraid, but Splinter was there, the four of them cuddled in a blanket in his lap as he told them stories to keep the storm at bay….

...warmth, and laughter, as four small brothers fought for a place in the sunlight that streamed through the grate overhead...

...Mikey, crying in the dark and clutching his teddy bear while the other three watched from behind Splinter as their father tended a cut on their youngest brother's knee **Mikey, strapped to a table and crying as**…

_That memory vanished as quickly as it had surfaced. _

_._..The dojo, with its worn carpets that they hadn't seen in years, brothers rushing at each other with wooden weapons, only Raph saw himself charging across the carpet…

...April strapped into the machine below them **Mikey, no****_,_** her gaze growing unfocused as they leaped, taking down the Kraang….

...his own face staring, hands pressed against glass as the escape pod drifted away….

...running across the rooftops, laughter ringing around them as they leaped. Exhilaration keeping them aloft, the feeling that nothing could ever bring them down…

_Raph gasped, the skyline of New York fading from his vision as the hexagonal field of the Conn-Pod slowly replaced it. He was back in his own skin again, except that he wasn't alone. Leo filled his head, calm and strong and resolute, and there was so much, _so much _there, so many things pulling at him from all sides, warring for his attention, so much fear, so many lives depending on _him..._ but at the same time, there was iron, and calm, and certainty..._

_"__Right hemisphere, calibrated."_

_Leo's voice. Leo. Right. The Jaeger. Shell Shocker. With that thought, Raph's senses extended, his body stretching, telescoping, until over the chafing circuitry suit and the aching bolts in his shell, he could feel the tons of metal and wire beneath them, around them, waiting for their command. Waiting for Raph's confirmation._

_"__Left hemisphere, calibrated."_

_A thought - Leo's maybe. Maybe it was Raph's. Maybe it was both at once. It didn't matter any more. And then there was no thought at all, just instinct as they moved in tandem and Shell Shocker's systems surged to respond. The great metal arms shifted, groaning, locking into a kata, and the surge of adrenaline that flooded his system left Raph gasping._

_"__Neural handshake is at one hundred percent and holding," Donnie said over the comms. Then, a little quieter, he added, "Mikey, you owe me a pizza."_

_"__Aw, come on!" they heard Mikey whine in the background. "They choose _now_ to stop fighting?" He sighed, heavily. "I was really looking forward to winning."_

_"__Ignore them, guys," April's calm voice overrode both of the others. "You got this. Make us proud."_

_"__Boys," Splinter said, and Shell Shocker straightened automatically. Okay, that _had _to be Leo's influence. "It is time to show the world what you can do."_

_Raph grinned. "Lovely day for a stroll, wouldn't you say, Leo?"_

_"__You know, I was thinking the exact same thing," Leo answered._

_As one, they strained against the motion rig, and Shell Shocker moved toward the end of the Shatterdome. Warning klaxons sounded as the sea doors opened, light momentarily blinding them before the hex screen darkened to compensate. Shell Shocker's footsteps reverberated throughout the Jaeger bay, and Raph wondered if the crews from Bruiser Shindig and Quantum Bravo were watching. They'd expressed their doubts about the Hamatos. _

_Bet they were eating it now._

_"__Stay with me," Leo murmured, and Raph nodded as they stepped onto the platform that would lower them into the water. It was so weird - he could _feel_ the deck beneath his feet as the circuitry suit translated Shell Shocker's movement into sensation, but it was muted. Nothing like the actual feel of concrete or metal beneath him as they ran across the city on patrol. Fine movement was tricky in this thing. Leo was annoyed - he wasn't used to being anything but in total control of his body - and Raph found it extremely unsettling to feel amused at Leo's frustration at his inability to achieve perfection while simultaneously feeling Leo's annoyance as his own._

_The Jaeger shifted as the platform began to move, forcing both of them to readjust in the harness to compensate. It jolted again as the descent stopped, and the Rangers looked out over the waves in front of them. _

_"__Enough dancing," Raph said. "Let's do this thing!"_

_They moved again, and almost got the foot high enough to clear the lip of the platform. Almost. Alarms shrilled as Shell Shocker tipped, and it took every ounce of strength Raph had, fighting against the pull of the motion rig, to land her on her feet. They made it, barely, and it was a hard landing. Too hard._

_Pain ripped through Raph's shell, radiating from the rivets as his body slammed against the harness. The agony was blinding, sending spots dancing in front of his eyes. And Leo… Leo… _

**..."Leo!" Raph threw himself against the locking bolts, straining in desperation as the guards dragged his brother past his cell. They left a trail behind them, stark red against the white tiles. Leo wasn't moving. Why wasn't he moving? Raph twisted against the bolts, agony radiating from the rivets that secured him to the wall. He felt the strain in the bone as he bucked and thrashed, and the sickening crack as shell began to split- "Leo!"...**

**...Raph's voice screaming his name. Couldn't breathe. Hurt to move. Hurt to think. But Raph… needed to… to…. screaming. Screaming. Screaming as they cut. Dead eyes behind dark glasses, demanding answers. Where is the rat? No. Can't tell. Too many. Protect… brothers…. Words flowing like blood from the cuts. Nonsense words. Don't tell them. Sensei… April… no… no… not strong enough… **

**_No! He had to stop it. Raph reached out, tearing the man with the dead eyes away from Leo and watching him dissolve in fire. He would end it. He would end them. He wouldn't let them hurt Leo again!_**

**_Distantly, impossibly far away, there was another sound beneath the screaming and the flames. It might have been Donnie, but Donnie wasn't here. Donnie was back in his cell. Donnie couldn't be here. It couldn't be him… had to end it. Had to burn this place to the ground. For his family._**

**_For Leo._**

_"__He's activated the self-destruct sequence!"_

* * *

Raph leaned against the break in the tower wall, resting his head against his upraised arm as he watched the flickering lights of the city. Despite his best efforts to ignore it, his gaze was drawn to the ribbon of darkness snaking its way through the light, the ever-present reminder of Colossus' journey through the city. His fists slowly clenched and unclenched, a steady rhythm as indecision churned within him.

He glanced back over his shoulder, but there was no change. Leo still lay unmoving where Raph had left him, his head pillowed on Raph's flight jacket.

What he _wanted_ was to go back, find those assholes who'd set the trap, and pound on them 'till his hands bled. But that wouldn't do Leo any good. Leo needed help, but Raph had no idea if moving him would make him worse, and he couldn't leave him alone. Donnie would know what to do, but Raph had left his Tphone back at the base because he hadn't wanted anyone following him and-

_"__Goddammit, Leo, why couldn't you just mind your own damn business!"_

The crack of splintering wood echoed throughout the small space. For a frozen moment, all Raph could do was stare at the new hole he'd punched in the side of the tower. His knuckles stung, and he realized belatedly that he had no idea when he'd ditched his gloves. Staring down at his hand, he watch the blood bead in the deep scratches in his skin. Then, he cursed softly and turned back to his brother.

His brother….

The laugh that burst from him held only the slightest edge of hysteria as Raph dropped to his knees next to Leo. Of course the boy scout would have brought his phone with him. Raph just had to find it. He pawed at Leo's jacket, feeling for the Tphone. Where the hell would he have-

Raph froze as a soft groan filled the darkness. "Leo?"

"Nnngh." Leo shifted, struggling to sit up. "Wha?"

Raph was there in a heartbeat, helping Leo to sit against the wall. "Hey, buddy. Take it easy, there. How are you feeling?"

"Like I got hit by a bus." Moaning, Leo braced his head in his hands. "What happened?"

"Nothing we couldn't handle." Raph's brow furrowed as he ducked his head, trying to get a good look at Leo's face.

Leo jerked suddenly, his gaze snapping up to meet Raph's, and there was no confusion in Leo any longer. _Aw, shit, _was all Raph had time to think before Leo's face clouded with fury.

Holding up a finger and cutting off whatever it was Leo had been about to say, Raph rose to his feet. "You sure you don't feel like you've been poisoned?"

"No," Leo snapped. "I feel like I've been tranqued and it's taking its sweet time to wear off."

"Good," Raph said, grabbing his flight jacket from the floor. "Then I don't have to feel bad about this."

Before Leo could get another word in edgewise, Raph was gone.

* * *

_"__Dammit, somebody shut that plasma cannon down!"_

_"__Techs are severing the connections, but that's not our main concern right now! Self-destruct is tapping straight into the fusion core!"_

_"__Donnie, can't you just unplug it?"_

_"__It's a _nuclear reactor, _Mikey, you can't unplug it!"_

_"__Unplug him, then. I'll disconnect his helmet-"_

_"__No! Leo, you do that and you'll lobotomize him!"_

**Noise. So much noise. Meaningless gibberish. So much screaming. Leo wasn't screaming anymore. Leo wasn't doing anything. Broken. Leaking. Too much. Fingers at the wrong angle. Nails cracked or missing. Did they do it, or did he? No matter. They were burning. They would all burn. No more. No more of this. Leo! Leo wake up!**

_"__That's it. We cannot let this go any longer, or he'll destroy the entire base. I want armed soldiers in there, now."_

_"__No! You will not touch my son!"_

_"__Your son is about to kill us all, Hamato! One casualty versus hundreds-"_

_"__Sirs, it doesn't matter! The reaction has already started. If you shoot him now, it's just going to keep going, and there's no way to get to minimum safe distance. Raph has to shut it down himself. It's the only way!"_

**The only way. Only way to keep him safe. To keep them all safe. Take it down. Burn it to the ground. Dead eyes behind dark glasses laughing at the pain. Laughing at each cut. Demanding, prying, hurting, breaking. Take them down. Take them all down. Make it safe. The only way.**

_The noise stopped. All of it, gone; only the faint hum that echoed through his feet remained. That faint hum, growing louder by the second. The hum, and footsteps, slow and deliberate, echoing as they approached._

**No! Where are you taking him? Leo? ****_Leo!_**

_"__Raph." _

_That voice. Strange, broken voice. Yet familiar. How did he know that voice?_

_"__Raph."_

_The voice wrapped around his head, an island of calm in the storm, and he clung to it._

_"__Raph, listen to me, bro. I need you to come back now. I need you to do this for me. Can you look at me? Raph?"_

* * *

"Raph?"

He hunched in on himself, his head sinking into his shell. Why did Leo have to sound so damn calm? Yelling, Raph could have dealt with easy. He sighed, drawing his arms more tightly around his knees and pressing his face into them. He hadn't even been able to get past the roof of the water tower. It was like he was freaking tethered to his brother. What the hell was the matter with him?

Leo's footsteps sounded softly against the wooden shingles, and it was a measure of how doped up Leo still was that Raph heard them at all. He kept his head down, refusing to look as Leo settled beside him.

"Raph?"

"Will you just get it over with, already!" Raph looked up in time to see Leo's flummoxed reaction to his outburst. "I know you're dying to lecture me and drag me back to Splinter. Just do it! Just…just..." His voice cracked on the last word.

"Raph," Leo said softly. "You're bleeding."

Raph started and looked down at his arm. He hadn't even felt it, but his sleeve had been sliced cleanly open, and blood stained the hoodie around the edges of the tear. And _now_ he felt it. He yanked off the hoodie, sending a stab of pain through his arm, and tossed it aside. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he demanded, as Leo shed his own outer layers and tugged the shirt underneath over his head.

"Tying that off before you lose enough blood that you can't get back to base." Leo's tone was infuriatingly even. "And you're going to shut up and let me do it because I just took the tranq meant for you."

"Smug dickhead," Raph muttered, but only because he couldn't actually argue with that. He looked away as Leo tore his tee into strips and carefully started binding the wound. This, at least, was familiar, even if it had been a while, and he let the silence stretch between them.

Of course it was Leo who broke it.

"Raph, what's going on? Talk to me."

* * *

_"__Raph. Talk to me."_

**That voice. But Leo was- no. No. Had to take it down. Had to stop it. Had to- to-**

_"__Raph. It's me. I'm here. I'm with you, but I need you to come back now. Just focus on me, bro. Come back."_

**But… but he wasn't… he was… he….**

_"__...Leo?"_

_Raph blinked, and there was a crust around his eyes that cracked and scraped with the movement. His eyes stung. The light was too bright. The lab was burning. The lab… _

_No. Not the lab. The Shatterdome was burning._

_"__Leo, he's out! Break the link, now!"_

_Leo slammed the release on the locking bolts on Raph's harness, and they snapped open. Without that support, Raph crumpled, but Leo was already there, kicking the clamps off Raph's boots and hauling him free of the feedback cradle. _

_"__Easy, buddy. I got you." Loosening the latches holding Raph's helmet to the drivesuit, Leo tugged it off. It fell, breaking free of the cables that connected it to the suit. Synapse fluid splashed to the deck like thick, yellow blood. "There you go. Just breathe."_

_"__Leo?" Raph asked weakly. "What-" The Shatterdome was burning. Crew scattered like ants, dousing the fires with foam. That damage - that was plasma cannon damage. Far beneath them, he could feel Shell Shocker's core slowly powering down. What the hell- He looked up into his brother's eyes, and felt the bile rise in his throat at what he saw there. "...what did I do?"_

* * *

Raph shivered as the night air teased the tails of his mask. Leo's hands were unnaturally warm next to the chill on his skin, but despite everything Leo'd been through tonight, his hands were implacably steady. A lot like Leo himself. Snorting, Raph wasn't sure if he found that thought comforting or incredibly exasperating.

Even from here, he could still see the whitecaps on the bay. The sun had set long ago; it was the moonlight that picked out the spindrift now.

"Raph?" Leo prompted again.

"I don't know what to say," Raph answered. "You ever think that maybe I'm just broken?"

"No," Leo said, without a trace of uncertainty or hesitation. Nothing else. Just that one word, spoken with the authority that drove Raph nuts most of the time, and filled him with awe for the rest of it. Not that he'd_ ever_ admit that.

Raph let out a bitter laugh. "Well, that makes one of us."

"Start with the basics," Leo suggested. He paused in his work, tugging on the bandage to fix the tension and eliciting a sharp hiss from Raph. "Sorry," Leo murmured, and his hands began to move again. "First things first. What on Earth possessed you to come out here on your own?"

A hundred responses crowded Raph's throat, but he swallowed the sharpest of them back down and took a deep breath. Losing his cool had gotten them into this. Had almost cost… Anyway.

"There's stuff I never told you about what happened with me and Casey just before Kagidume attacked."

Leo paused very briefly in his work. "I always assumed you thumped some sense into Casey and brought him back when the alarms went off." The sound of tearing cloth punctuated Leo's words as he tore the end of his makeshift bandage and knotted it around the dressing. "I thought you glossed over that in the debriefing to protect him, and we never really got a chance to go over it. That night was… eventful."

"That's one way of putting it." Raph pulled his arm out of Leo's grasp, flexing the muscle to test the dressing. It was perfect. Of course. "I found him all right. Getting the snot beaten out of him in an alley by Purple Dragons."

Leo groaned, a soft bump reverberating through Raph's shell as Leo's head fell against it. "I'm not hearing this. If I don't hear it, I don't have to fill out the paperwork."

"They were shaking down some poor sap, and Casey put a stop to it. Sort of. I had to step in and get him outta there, and then we had a heart to heart, though that part's a bit fuzzy. Maybe that was the beer-"

"You were _drinking?_" Leo broke in. "Underage? _While on duty?"_

"Leo, priorities!" Raph snapped. "The point is, when I stepped in, the Dragons remembered me. They thought they had the run of this town, and I reminded 'em that there's someone out there keeping score, and it just… it felt _good_, Leo. And lately, I've been needing that." His arm still ached, so he settled for bracing his uninjured one against an upraised knee and resting his chin on it. "I've been needing it a lot."

"So you went AWOL and jeopardized our standing with the PPDC because you needed to hit people?"

The note of incredulity in Leo's voice made Raph want to punch _him_, but he reined it in. "No! Well, yeah, but not like that." Raph rubbed his temples, trying to find the words he needed. "You'd think the threat of giant freaking space monsters would be enough to show scum like the Dragons that they've got bigger things to worry about than shaking down old dudes for loose change, but it's not. They need us out there in the Jaegers, yeah, but someone has to be here on the streets, too. Someone has to even the score a little."

Leo shifted next to him, and Raph didn't need to look to know that he'd crossed his arms. "And that someone had to be you? Alone?"

"Yes, alone! I needed to sort stuff out, okay?"

"No, it's not okay, Raph! Not when you could have gotten yourself killed!" Leo let out a strangled, frustrated sound. "I know you're impulsive, but I'd have thought you'd at least have had the sense to take Casey with you!"

"Casey wouldn't help!"

"What is the matter with you? I thought you and Casey were getting on well. If something happened-"

"Nothing happened! It's not _Casey _that's the problem, Leo!"

"Well than what is-" Leo broke off suddenly, and silence filled the void like a lead weight. Raph resisted as long as he could, but in the end, he had to look. Turning his head, his worst suspicions were confirmed. It wasn't anger that had stopped Leo. It was pity, and guilt, and that was a million times worse.

"Oh, Raph," he said quietly. "Still?"

* * *

_If anyone had ever told him that he'd find himself longing for one of Splinter's punishments, Raph would have called them insane. Yet as he stood there, staring at the scuffed PPDC logo on the floor, Raph wished that his father would say something. Anything. Clean the Shatterdome. Randori till he couldn't see straight. But Splinter just stood there, his knuckles tense around the red and blue masks still clenched in his hands._

_It was Takahashi who was doing the talking. Or yelling, as it happened. He didn't need the litany; Raph knew all too well the damage that he'd caused. Every time he blinked, he saw it etched into his brain. _

_At least the Marshall seemed to be winding down. Takahashi straightened, tugging the hem of his jacket and fixing them with that superior glare that made Raph almost wish the guy was still a Foot ninja so he had a reason to fight him. "Well?" Takahashi snapped. "Do you have anything to say for yourselves?"_

_"__What do you want me to say?" Even as the words burst out of him, Raph knew they were a mistake. Not that he could stop them if he wanted to. "You want me to say I'm sorry? That I'll do whatever it takes to-"_

_Leo stepped forward, placing a hand on Raph's arm. "Sirs, this was my fault," he said. "I wasn't prepared for the sense memories the feedback cradle set off in Raph, and I let them trigger my own. It won't happen again."_

_"__You're damn right it won't," Takahashi said. _

_Raph shot Leo a look of gratitude. His brother was a freaking boy scout sometimes, but at the moment, he could live with boy scout. He could even like it. "That's right," Raph agreed. "Next time-"_

_"__Oh, no." Takahashi held up a finger. "There will be no next time. Let me make this one thing perfectly clear, gentlemen. If I ever get even a hint of an inkling that you two are thinking of getting in a Jaeger together, I will put you right back where I found you. You two are _never_ drifting again." He jabbed a finger at Leonardo. "You, at least, have some sense of self-control. Get yourself back in the simulator until I am satisfied that I can trust you with that Jaeger."_

_Horror curled itself through Raphael's gut, oozing thick and cold. Leo's expression matched the one he was wearing, of that he was certain. Even his other brothers and April, trying to make themselves as small and unobtrusive as they could in the corner of the otherwise deserted LOCCENT, were staring at them in shock. _

_Raph stepped toward his father, reaching a hand out in silent plea. "Sensei," he said, his throat so tight that the words were barely more than a whisper. "Tell him he's wrong. Tell him to give us another chance." In the face of Splinter's continued silence, Raph rested his trembling hand on Splinter's sleeve. "Father, please…"_

_Splinter drew a deep breath, letting it out very slowly. His hand closed on Raph's shoulder, and Raph had to fight to keep himself from visibly leaning in to the comfort and security of that touch._

_Until Splinter's other hand moved. Raph watched, almost uncomprehending, as Splinter pressed the red mask into Raph's hand and closed his fingers around it. Raph looked up, desperate for an explanation, but Splinter's attention wasn't on him anymore._

_"__Michelangelo." There was a weight in Splinter's words they had not heard in a long time. Not since they'd gotten out of the lab. "Take Donatello and April and make your armour ready. You will join Leonardo in the simulator in one hour."_

_Mikey stared between Raph and Leo, looking like he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Hai, Sensei," he whispered at last, and all but ran from the room. Donnie and April followed close on his heels, and the look April gave Raph made him want to sink through the floor. _

_Takahashi was the next to leave, and a jerk of his head indicated that Leo was to follow. Leo hesitated, the closest he'd come to insubordination since they'd signed their contracts. Sudden anger flared deep within Raph, and he turned to glare at his brother, freezing him in his tracks. For a long, silent moment, they just stared at each other. Then, Leo turned and followed Takahashi, his shoulders bowed and his head low to his shell._

_Raph jerked away from Splinter's touch. At least his father knew him well enough that he didn't try to follow. Raph's hands were shaking as they clenched on the red fabric; in that moment, he wanted to tear it to pieces._

_It was Splinter's soft voice that broke the terrible silence. "I know this comes as a bitter blow. But there is still a place for you here, my son."_

_But as Splinter followed the others, leaving Raph alone in the empty LOCCENT, Raph couldn't for the life of him think what that was. Slowly, he sank to his knees. Only then did he let himself give in to the shame and grief that boiled within him, and his voice broke as he howled his rage to the empty room._

* * *

"Half the time, I actually think I'm over it." The words came slowly, reluctantly, and Raph had to drag them from the place where they sat deep within his chest, pressing like a weight against his lungs and making it hard to breathe. "I got a good thing going with Casey. I know that. But sometimes it seems like I barely get to see you any more, and then I _remember_…"

Leo stayed quiet for a moment, digesting the words. The next ones he spoke were as leader, not brother. Raph recognized the change in tone in an instant. "Does Casey know?"

Raph nodded. "Maybe not all of it, but enough. I remember when we Drift. He keeps me from chasing the RABITs, though. It doesn't scare him." In spite of his dark mood, Raph gave a dry snort of laughter. "Nothing scares that maniac. He trusts me."

A quiet breath from the dark. That had been enough to reassure the leader in Leo, anyway. Without trust, a neural handshake wouldn't hold; trust was key between Rangers in the Drift. His own personal feelings aside, Leo would have to report it if anything threatened the success of the mission. But Raph's reassurance of his faith in Casey was enough. Leo wouldn't talk. Whatever they talked about was going to stay on this watertower.

That thought brought another, and it slipped out before Raph could catch it.

"Do you ever wish-"

He bit back the words, but not fast enough. Leo's hand moved to rest against Raph's shell, his fingers brushing against the one place on Raph's carapace where he had no sensation - the metal plate screwed to the bone just above the rivet over his left shoulder. The plate that held his carapace together where it had started to crack.

"I wish a lot of things, Raph."

"You know what I mean."

Leo sighed deeply. "Of course I wish..." His hand fell away from Raph's shell. "I'm sorry. I wasn't strong enough-"

Raph turned to look at Leo, at how he sat, hunched over on himself and staring at his hands in his lap, and Raph's lip curled in anger. "You keep saying that, but it's bullshit! I've been in your head, Fearless. I've seen how much you're carrying around in there, and if it were on me, I'd have snapped years ago. You're the strongest person I know, you asshole, and if you don't stop saying that, I swear to god I will break your jaw!"

His nails dug into his palms as he braced himself, waiting for the retaliatory blow. But it didn't come. Oh, Leo was staring, all right, his shoulders shaking with silent tremors. But it wasn't anger, and it wasn't silent for long, as Leo bent over in a bout of explosive laughter.

"What?" Raph demanded, trying to sound offended, but he couldn't quite manage it, and the snickers started to slip out. "You think I'm not serious?"

"Oh, I think you're serious," Leo gasped between fits of giggles. "And if this is your way of showing _encouragement,_ I almost feel sorry for the kaiju!"

At that, both of them lost it, dissolving into gales so loud it was a wonder it didn't attract a horde of Purple Dragons. The laughter wrung them dry, leaving them leaning against each other, spent, as it finally petered out.

"For what it's worth," Raph said at last, unable to quite meet Leo's eyes. "I wish I hadn't screwed it up. You and me in a Jaeger? Damn Kraang wouldn't have stood a chance."

"We would have been great together," Leo agreed. "But that doesn't change the fact that we're still great the way we are. You and Casey. Me and Mikey. Donnie and April." His hand closed over Raph's shoulder, forcing Raph to finally meet his gaze. There was regret in his brother's eyes, and pity. But there was also a deep, fierce pride. "We're a team, Raph. We're a _good_ team. And you and me…" His hand closed on Raph's shoulder. "We don't need a Jaeger to fight the bad guys together."

Raph just stared, not entirely sure of Leo's meaning, not daring to hope it was what he thought. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that you're right." Leo rose to his feet, slipping his hoodie and jacket back on as he looked out over the damage path winding through the city. "We're needed at the Shatterdome; that's always going to be priority one. But the city needs us, too. I'm going to talk to Splinter. Going AWOL isn't an option, no matter how appealing, but I think it's time we got back to patrolling. I can frame it as an exercise in drift compatibility." Leo grinned down at Raph, more of his old self showing through than Raph had seen since that first disastrous Drift. "But next time, we do it as a team. No more solo runs. Deal?"

A slow, lazy grin spread across Raph's face as Leo's words sank in. "I make no promises," he said. Reaching for his flight jacket, he tugged it back on, and tied the hoodie around his waist. He'd worry about cleaning the blood off later. "But I think I'm ready to get back to the base."

"Not so fast." That grin still firmly fixed in place, Leo gestured back toward the alley where they'd been ambushed. "I need to get my swords back. But I could use a partner, since I can't exactly call for official backup." One hand hooked into his belt, he held the other out to Raph.

"Wait a second," Raph said, realization slowly dawning. "You're AWOL too?"

At least Leo had the grace to look embarrassed. "Once I figured out where you'd gone, it was easier just to slip past security and come after you myself. Someone has to keep you out of trouble."

Raph just shook his head. "So the golden boy has a bad streak after all. Dominique's going to kill you."

"Only if she finds out," Leo said.

He'd heard enough. Raph locked his hand around Leo's and let his brother tug him to his feet, but Raph didn't stop there. He kept moving, fast enough to stagger Leo as he slammed into him. Ignoring the protests of his injured arm, Raph grabbed Leo and hugged him hard enough to make his shell creak.

"What's that for?" Leo asked, wheezing slightly.

"Making up for lost time," Raph replied. He let go and clapped Leo's shoulder. "Come on. Let's go have some fun."

* * *

The idiots who'd taken Leo's katana had actually mounted them on their wall like some kind of trophy. Raph's grin flashed white against the dark in anticipation of what was coming. Leo just hung next to him in the shadows of the rafters, all focused intent until Raph's shuriken took out the lights.

The unlikely mix of Humans First devotees and Purple Dragons gathered below never knew what hit them. Raph and Leo made no sound as they moved through the dark, save the quiet singing of Leo's katana as they found themselves in the right hands again. But there was no loss of life or limbs this time. A lot of scrapes, bruises, and concussions, for sure, but Leo was in a good mood, and a happy Leo was a lot more inclined to be merciful.

Raph couldn't fault him for his mood. They moved together, reflections of one another, relying on instinct as they cut their way through the ranks of the fanatics. Like clockwork, they moved around each other, each guarding the other's back and covering their blind spots. And when it was done, and they were on the rooftops again, chasing each other back toward the Shatterdome, Raph was filled with the same euphoria he felt every time he was in a Jaeger.

He'd _missed_ this. This was as much a part of him as being a Ranger, and he'd been away from it too long. The heat of the moment, fighting with your fists and your steel against a foe your own size, as opposed to one the height of a building. Bringing justice to the cowards who preyed on the weak and took advantage of a city at war.

And Leo. Aw, man, he'd missed Leo, too.

As they crested the walls of the Shatterdome just before dawn and made their way to the roof access, they ran smack into Mikey and April. Leo, for once, was in no place to lecture, but the look he gave them promised that there would be explanations later. The look intensified when they bumped into an incredibly harried-looking Donnie and Casey slumped in the upper stairwell. But the explanations would keep. They gathered in the Rangers' lounge, and as Leo quietly detailed the plan for the rest of the Rangers, Raph could feel the electricity thrumming through them and binding them together. No need to ask - everyone was in. They could all feel it. _This_ was what they were meant to do, and he could almost pity the poor mook who tried to stand against them. Almost.

The windows in the lounge looked out over the bay, toward the rising sun. Raph found himself smiling as he watched the spindrift painted gold by the dawn. He'd been wrong. There was something bigger than himself at work, all right, but he hadn't been carried away by it. He was part of it. And he wouldn't trade that for the world.


	8. Flashbacks

April woke gasping for air, cold sweat beading on her skin. Pressing a hand to her mouth, she glanced down warily, but Casey was still fast asleep. One of the advantages of bunking with an ordinary human instead of a houseful of ninjas, she supposed. Getting showered with concern during a sleepless night was sweet, but it could get overwhelming when all of your brothers and their dad were aware of every single move you made, including midnight trips to the bathroom.

She debated waking him, but in the end, there was no reason for both of them to lose sleep. Easing herself carefully out from under the covers, she quietly retrieved her bra from the lighting fixture overhead and put it back on under her tank top. That done, she pulled on a pair of jeans, and crawled over the desk to nab her flight jacket from where Casey had tossed it. Grabbing her boots, she slipped out the door and sat on the steps just long enough to do up her laces before hightailing it for the roof access.

The on-duty personnel may have shot her a curious glance or two, but the combination of her Ranger's jacket, tags, and the ID clipped to her waistband ensured that no one questioned her as she made her way to the roof.

She was almost running by the time she hit the exterior door, and she closed her eyes as the chill of the night air washed over her. Breathing deep, she let the cool air fill her lungs, and gradually, she felt her pounding heart begin to slow.

The prickling in her skin faded as she breathed, and April turned her attention to the knot of dread in the pit of her stomach that had yet to unravel. Tears pricked at her eyes, and she rubbed at them with a clenched fist. She knew she should talk to someone about the anxiety attacks, but the only thing that frightened her more than the attacks did was the thought that they'd ground her from Ranger duty because of them. She couldn't lose that. Being out there with Donnie was the only time she came close to feeling _right_ anymore. Losing that - losing _him_ \- she didn't think she could survive it a second time. Running a hand through her hair - she still wasn't quite used to the new length, though she reluctantly had to admit that it was easier to fit under a helmet than braids - she resolved to talk to someone about her nerves. Donnie, probably. She'd been hesitant to bring it up with him mostly due to his tendency to overreact where her health was concerned, but if she sat on him and made him promise to keep quiet, he probably would. Hell, if they spent much longer in the Drift, he'd know anyway; there was only so long she'd be able to avoid thinking about it. And he was by far the best qualified to figure out if she really was-

A shudder raced down her spine and the prickling in her skin returned with a vengeance. She wasn't alone.

Her hand slipped into her pocket, resting against the reassuring weight of her tessen, as she stretched her senses to the limit. The constant murmuring of the ocean, which had been so reassuring a moment ago, suddenly overwhelmed everything else. She thought she heard something off to her left, but it might just as easily have been a bird. If only-

"_April!_"

A dark shape came out of nowhere, appearing so suddenly before her that her mouth was already open to scream before she registered the green hand reaching for her. The hand clamped down over her mouth, stifling the sound, and though the harsh whisper had been almost incomprehensible, and it was still too dark to make out his features, she knew in another second that it was Mikey.

The fact that there was no logical way she should have been able to _tell_ it was Mikey unsettled her more than a little.

"Shhh," Mikey hissed, and before she quite knew what was happening, his hands were around her waist, flinging her over his shoulder. She was suddenly thankful for the padding of his flight jacket; she knew from experience that the edge of that shell was profoundly uncomfortable otherwise.

"Mikey," she said, keeping her voice low. "What are you doing?"

"Shhh," he said again, and they were moving, the wind whipping her short hair into her eyes. "I'm kidnapping you."

From anyone else, that statement might have been a cause for concern. But Mikey paused on the edge of the roof, and there was an unspoken question in that pause. If she'd said anything, _done_ anything, she knew he'd have put her down again without question. For anyone else, she might have said something. But now she was curious. With a quiet sigh, she folded her arms against his shell.

It was all the permission he needed. She felt the thrill of excitement run through him just before he tightened his grip on her and threw himself off the Shatterdome.

Her stomach flipped as they went into freefall, and despite her trust in him, she found herself clutching his flight jacket for dear life. She heard the rattle of chain a second later, and she struggled to remember when she'd last seen him use his kusarigama outside of the Jaeger. Then, the world lurched sharply, and they were swinging out over the fence that bordered the base.

"Where are we-" she began.

"April," he interrupted, stretching out her name in a rather impressive whine. "Asking defeats the purpose of _kidnapping._"

"Oh, for the love of-" she muttered, before a leap over a storm drain jogged the breath out of her.

Mikey snickered softly. "Just wait. It's a surprise."

It didn't take long for them to reach downtown. By that point, they'd mutually agreed to shift her to Mikey's back - it was far more comfortable for her, and having both of his hands free made it easier for him - but he didn't stop or offer explanation until they reached familiar rooftops.

She staggered a bit when he finally set her down, but his hand on her arm kept her from falling. April shoved her now-thoroughly-windblown hair out of her eyes to glare at him, though there was little heat in it. "I could have made that run with you, you know."

Mikey rolled his eyes. "I know," he said. "But that defeats the purpose of-"

"All right, all right," she said, punching him in the shoulder. "I get it. _Now_ will you tell me why?"

He sat himself on the ledge, his feet swinging, and smiled. The guarded edge to his expression puzzled her, though, until he shrugged and said, "I missed you."

Shaking her head in fond exasperation, she boosted herself up to the ledge next to him. He didn't need to - hadn't needed to in a long time - but his hand reached out automatically to ensure she didn't topple off to the street below. "Mikey," she said softly. "I see you every day."

"Yeah, but we never get to _hang_ anymore," he said. "I've been thinking about it for a while, and when I saw you, it just…" he shrugged again. "Seemed like a good time for ice cream."

"Mikey, it's, like, 2 am."

"April," he said, his tone matching hers almost exactly. "This is New York. There's _always_ someplace open where you can get ice cream." Giving her a smug look, he glanced toward the street, and April followed the look to see the glowing sign of a 24-hour grocery.

She raised a brow. "You know what would have been great? If you'd warned me so I could have brought my wallet."

Raising a brow right back at her, Mikey held up two ten-dollar bills.

April groaned. "You are incorrigible. You know we have ice cream back at the Shatterdome that we can get for free, without the ration mark-up?"

"That ice cream is awesome," he agreed, "but forbidden ice cream is better."

Groaning again, April grabbed the money and dropped down to the fire-escape below.

Ten minutes later, they were each on their second ice cream bar, and April had to admit that being AWOL did lend a certain spice to the dessert. "So," she said, nudging him with a shoulder. "We have ice cream. Now will you tell me what's bugging you?"

He grinned, nudging her back. "Not so much bugging. Just…" He crammed the rest of his dripping dessert into his mouth and licked off his fingers. "I get that you hang with Donnie all the time 'cause your drift is so strong it's stupid, and you spend a bunch of time with Casey because you guys are totally-"

"Finish that sentence, and I will shove this popsicle stick up your nose," she said sweetly.

He looked at her innocently. "-dating." April didn't buy the act for a minute, and his subsequent smirk confirmed it. But his smile faded quickly, and he laced his fingers together in his lap. "And I know that I've had to spend a bunch of time training Jane and stuff, and looking out for Angel, and making sure Leo doesn't choke to death on his own honour-" April coughed as a mouthful of ice cream went down the wrong way, and Mikey reached out absently to thump her on the back until she could breathe again. "- but sometimes I really miss the old days in the lair. And you."

"Awww. Honey." Gently teasing, April put an arm around Mikey's shoulders, and smiled as he leaned into her. He was still getting taller, and it took him a moment to find the right place to rest his head. "It has been a long time since we had a good baking experiment."

"Murakami is so picky about his kitchen," Mikey sighed. "You set _one_ pot on fire…"

April snorted. "Yeah, he's strange like that." She shifted a little, relaxing into him as his arm went around her waist. Even as an adult, Mikey's hugs still had the easy, innocent affection that made them the physical equivalent of hot chocolate and a warm blanket to wrap up in. "We can make time, you know. No need to resort to abduction."

"More fun this way," he said, and she couldn't argue. But then he lifted his head, fixing his gaze on hers, and her stomach gave an uneasy flip at the subtle shift in his expression. He was so good at playing the sweet, naive little brother, she sometimes forgot just how perceptive he could be, until something slipped and she got a glimpse of the depths that lay beneath. "So," he said, his voice still deceptively light, "what were you doing up, anyway?"

She couldn't even fire the question back at him. Out of all of them, Mikey had found the shift to the military schedule the hardest, and his internal clock was set firmly at a 3 am bedtime and an 11 am wakeup, which drove the Marshalls absolutely crazy. Mikey trying to burn off energy on the roof at almost 2 am was practically normal. April on the roof at 2 am absolutely wasn't. She could try to put him off with some story, insist she was fine, but Mikey was attuned enough to her that she was certain he'd catch the lie. She could refuse to answer entirely, though depending on his mood, he'd either respect that decision without a word, or spend the next six hours attempting to wheedle it out of her. But she also knew that the way he was looking at her - open, and welcoming, and utterly without judgement - was completely genuine.

Truth be told, the weight she'd been carrying was getting awfully heavy.

"It's…" she began, but the words crowded her throat as she tried to put them together in a way that made any kind of sense. Letting go of him, she stared down at her hands instead. "It sounds really foolish when I try to say it out loud."

"April," he answered bluntly. "This is _me_. Whatever it is that's so ridiculous, I guarantee you I've said worse at some point."

The laugh he startled out of her cut through the tension between them, and she shook her head in fond affection. "Okay, that's a fair point." She reached out and took his hand to help boster herself for the admission, and his big fingers curled carefully around hers in silent comfort. As her free hand came to rest on his, her fingers brushed lightly over the intricate tracery of his circuitry scars that peeked out from beneath his cuff. She had a few of her own now, but nothing as vivid or deep as those Mikey bore.

"It's… a feeling," she said at last. "Like… like there's something coming. Something big waiting just in the corner of my eye where I can't see it."

"You mean a bad dream?" Mikey asked without a trace of skepticism, and she could have kissed him for that. Instead, she shook her head.

"It started as dreams. But I'm getting it when I'm awake now, too."

He hummed thoughtfully. "Is it, like, a Kraang thing? Like when you could hear that orb dealie?"

"No." Some of her frustration started to creep into her voice, and Mikey's hand tightened on hers. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to continue. "_That_, at least, I've felt before. I'd know if that's what this was. This.. I'm not even sure it's real."

"If you're feeling it, sis, it's real," Mikey said.

"That's not what I meant." She sighed. "I mean, I know the feeling is _there_. But I'm not sure if it _means_ anything. I've been talking a lot to the doctors working with Dad, and I'm pretty sure he's not the only O'Neil suffering PTSD, if you know what I mean."

She pushed herself off the wall, needing to move. _This_ was the part she'd dreaded. It felt wrong, somehow, confiding this to someone who had far more cause to feel anxiety than she did. At this point, even the pacing made her feel guilty; when he'd been bolted to the wall of a cell, he hadn't even had that option. "So, I don't know if it's _real_ or if it's a side effect of the PTSD. And what if it _is_ real? Where is it coming from? The thing that happens during a fight, when I'm reading the kaiju- what if it's not just intuition. What if I'm… I'm _bonding_ with the kaiju somehow? Who knows what the Kraang did to me. Maybe this feeling is a signal, and maybe I'll end up… I just… I'm _scared_, Mikey, and I don't-"

Strong arms wrapped tightly around her, and the rest of her panicked outburst dissolved into a breathless squeak as her feet left the ground. Part of her wondered exactly when he'd gotten so much taller than her, but the rest of her attention was occupied with burying her head in the hollow of his shoulder. He smelled of pizza, and the leather of his flight jacket, and inexplicably of cotton candy bubble bath. It was surprisingly comforting, all things considered, especially given that he no longer smelled like the sewers he grew up in.

"First up," he said, "I've gotten up close and personal with a lot of kaiju, and you, lady, are _no_ kaiju." The reverberations of his voice through his plastron tickled, but she had no desire to complain. "And second, whether it's PTSD or your head tuning itself to the 24-hour kaiju channel, it's bugging you, and that means we deal with it. Got it?"

She smiled against him, and nodded. "Got it."

"Good." He set her down again and plopped himself down on the roof. At his expectant look, she joined him. Her knee brushed lightly against his, but she kept it there, still craving that connection between them, and Mikey was content to allow it. "Now for the tougher question. Have you talked to Leo?"

"Ah yes. Tell people that I had a feeling I can't really describe about a thing that isn't a thing that may or may not be about to happen." April rolled her eyes. "What do you think?"

"Hmmm…." Mikey tapped a thoughtful finger against his chin. "I think you haven't told Donnie because you worry about him as much as he worries about you and you don't want to add to the stuff he's already got on his plate, you haven't told Raph because he'll either laugh or try be supportive, and from Raph either one could end in tears or bruises, you haven't told Sensei because you're not sure how you'll deal if he goes all dad on you, you haven't told Casey because he's the closest thing to normal you've had in a long time and you're worried about what he'll think, and you haven't told Leo because…" he narrowed his eyes at her, thinking for a moment. "Because you admire him and you're worried that admitting something's eating at you is going to make you come up short compared to him." He leaned back on his hands and tilted his head. "So how'd I do?"

April stared at him agape. "That's… wow. Scary." She wrapped her arms around herself, shivering a little. "I thought I was supposed to be the psychic one."

"Psssh," he said, giving a nonchalant wave of his hand. "Doesn't take psychic powers, girl. I'm just smart that way." He tapped his head meaningfully.

One day, she'd stop underestimating him. He just made it really hard when she kept walking in on him having epic battles with his PPDC action figures while wearing completely inexplicable underpants. She attempted a smile, which was more difficult than it should have been thanks to her trembling lip. "So," she said. "You know why I can't tell Leo."

"I know why you _think_ you can't tell Leo." His hands closed gently but firmly over hers, warming the chill that had suddenly moved in. "But he looks a little different from inside his head. Trust me, he's not gonna think you can't cut it just because you've got demons chasing you. He'd wanna know."

"He'll try to make it _strategy_," she whined.

"'Course he will," Mikey laughed. "It's _Leo_." Mikey rubbed at her hands a little, trying to get some of the warmth back into her icy fingers, no doubt. "But he'll take you seriously. April, he'd never hold it against you if the stuff you've been through is making it hard to keep your head on straight. That dude wrote the book on getting shit done when the ghosts are dogging you."

April's breath caught. Mikey was right; she wasn't being fair on Leo. He'd been so much the model Ranger, especially lately, and she tended to overlook the scars…. But they were there in plain sight every time he took off the flight jacket, etched into his skin like a story. Mikey had them too, for that matter, though not nearly as deep or as numerous. "Oh…" She felt her cheeks growing hot, and attempted to pull her hands away. "You must think I'm a royal jerk. Here I am going on about my problems, and you guys-"

"Hey," he admonished gently. Though his hold on her hands was gentle, his grip was as strong as a Jaeger's. "Now you're just being a dummy." He shook her hands lightly until she looked up at him. "At least we started off as ninjas - we trained for stuff going pear-shaped. When you started on this crazy ride with us, you were just a regular kid, and you're still here. Don't think we haven't noticed that. We may think you're a lot of things, but a jerk ain't one of 'em. 'Sides, you're allowed to worry about yourself once in a while."

Her breath hitched again as her vision blurred. Without missing a beat, Mikey scooted over next to her and wrapped his arms around her. "Cleansing breaths, April," he said, as one hand stroked over her hair. "Cleansing breaths."

Caught somewhere between a laugh and a sob, she turned her face to his shoulder and let her silent tears dampen the collar of his jacket. She didn't make a sound, though her shoulders shook with the force of holding it in. Mikey just held her, occasionally rubbing her back, until the tension finally began to drain away.

"Sorry," she mumbled at last, her voice muffled by his collar. "Here you went to the trouble of kidnapping me to get some alone-time, and I spend it blubbering at you."

His laughter held no trace of mockery; warm, and pleasant, it wrapped her like a blanket and warded off the chill. "Don't worry about it. A happy big sis makes for a happy Mikey, and I like helping. Now that we've gotten to the root of the problem, all we gotta do is figure out how to turn that frown upside down!"

April snorted. "Keep spouting cornball lines like that, for one."

"Hey, don't knock the classics!" he protested. "Now, why don't we-"

The rest of his sentence was swallowed by a crash that echoed up from the alley between their roof and the warehouse next door, followed by a string of muffled curses. Mikey quickly let go of April and turned to peer over the ledge, and the feral grin he cast back over his shoulder reminded April uncannily of Leo.

"Ooooh, I know what would cheer you up," he whispered. "How 'bout we take down some Dragons, for old time's sake?"

"Are you serious?" April crept over to the ledge and peeped up beside him. Sure enough, the man just disappearing into the warehouse bore an unmistakable tattoo on his arm, though his face was unfamiliar. Her brows drew together. "Am I seeing what I think I'm seeing? The world is under attack and they're _recruiting?_"

"C'mon," Mikey wheedled. "You know you wanna go lay some smackdown."

Smirking, she elbowed him in the side. "What would Leo say?"

Mikey straightened his back and held up an imperious finger. "Halt, miscreants! Repent your evil ways or face the mighty wrath of justice!"

"Whoa," she breathed. "That was a good Leo."

"Living in his head, babe. You pick up a thing or two."

She wanted to laugh at that, but an uneasy realization stole the laughter from her throat. Mikey's eerily accurate impression had reminded her of something, and now her overstressed brain wouldn't let it go. "Hey, Mikey? Have you noticed that Leo hasn't actually done that in a while?"

"'Course," he said, his attention only half on her as he loosed his kusarigama from his belt. "There's a lot of bits of old Leo that got broke, and it takes time to squish 'em all back into place. He's almost there, though. Give him time." His eyes narrowed and he stood up suddenly. "Alley's clear. It's now or never, sis. Are we heading back to the Shatterdome, or is it time to play with the Dragons?" He held his free hand out to her, and waited.

Echoes of the past filtered back through her as she looked up at him, memory overlaying a purple mask over the orange as she stared at that waiting hand. Mikey had never been much good at waiting, before. Whether it was the Drift or the past five years that did it, one thing was becoming clearer every day: Leo wasn't the only one who'd been changed by everything that had happened since the Technodrome fell. But the leashed energy running beneath Mikey's skin belied his patience. He'd respect her decision, but she didn't need her sensitivity to know which answer he'd prefer. Truth be told, she could see the appeal. There was something oddly therapeutic about taking down the jerks who'd prey on those who were helpless in a time when everyone should be pulling together.

April placed her hand in his. "Let's go see what they're up to."

Even after all these years, Mikey's true smile still felt like sunlight breaking over her. He yanked her effortlessly to her feet before slipping an arm around her waist, clamping her to his side as he swung the kusarigama from his other hand.

"Just like old times!"

She was fully aware that she was safe with him. He'd let himself fall before he dropped her; she knew that with every fibre of her being. But that didn't stop her reflexive clutch as he leaped from the roof, sending them both into freefall before the chain snapped taut and launched them toward the warehouse. Whatever else there was to say about Mikey, he definitely knew how to show a girl a good time. A thread of unmitigated glee coiled through her, and she clung tighter, burying her head against him as he went into a flip at the apex of their swing. She'd loved going to Coney Island when she was a kid, but she hadn't felt the need to visit a midway even once since she'd met the guys. This ride was better than anything that human engineering could dish out.

* * *

Mikey rubbed at his nose, fighting back the urge to sneeze. Goons these days just didn't show pride in their evil lairs like they used to. Heck, the Shredder had decked out his lair with pyrotechnics and water gardens and evil feng shui, but these guys couldn't even be bothered to dust their rafters. It was sad, really. He rubbed his nose again and glanced at where April perched beside him, but all her attention was focused on the warehouse floor.

A waft of fetid air drifted up from below and hit him like a punch in the face. He gagged, clamping a hand over his mouth. The others would never let him live it down if he failed the ninja stealth test by yarking on the bad guys, and if he did it, there's no way he'd be able to _not_ think about it next time he drifted with Leo. Choking back the bile, he inched closer to April.

"What are they _doing_?" he whispered, looking out over the piles of… of _something_ that sat scattered across the warehouse floor. That stuff looked nastier than the way the Pulverizer had ended up, and smelled a billion times worse. "What the heck is that?"

"I… I think it's kaiju parts," April whispered back, her hand over her nose. "Ugh. Make that rotting kaiju parts."

"Why the heck would they want rotting kaiju parts?" He shifted again, trying to get a better view. "Isn't that stuff hella toxic?"

"Mmm. According to Donnie, soaking the tissue in ammonia neutralizes a lot of the harmful effects of kaiju blue, though I still wouldn't be caught near any of that stuff without a hazmat suit."

Mikey rolled his eyes. "He wants to bring home the next one to study, doesn't he?"

"Yup. I've been trying to talk him out of - ha! Those are definitely kaiju parts. I recognize that bit. It's the weird thing that was on the top of Noshucho's head."

"Noshucho," Mikey scoffed. "I swear they're just using Google Translate to name them now. They should have let me do it."

"Don't be bitter," April said, flicking his shoulder.

Waving her off, Mikey craned his neck to get a better look at the unfamiliar kaiju. "Wait, isn't Noshucho the one that J-" he caught himself and glanced at April, who was doing that thing with her eyebrow that meant she hadn't missed his mistake. "That one that mysteriously vanished which I had absolutely nothing to do with 'cause I was nowhere near the Shatterdome at the time."

"Mikey, do you have something you want to tell the class?"

"I swear I- ah!" He clapped his hands over his face, holding in the sneeze. Stupid dust. Lowering his hands as soon as he was sure it was safe, he gestured toward the guy who appeared to be in charge. "So what do you think they want with this crap?"

April shrugged. "Black market, probably."

"There's a black market for kaiju guts?"

"Hey, people will pay a fortune for coffee that's been pooped out by a civet. There's a black market for everything."

Mikey stared at her in disgust, trying not to barf again. "People pay for _what_? Man, humans are nasty, sometimes."

"Mikey, you lived in a sewer."

"Yeah, but I didn't drink it!"

April shook her head, but thankfully let the topic drop. "Anyway. About Noshucho…"

_Oops. Maybe not thankfully._ "I told you, I had nothing to do with that. Noshucho who?"

"I really don't think-"

But whatever she'd been about to say was lost as Mikey shifted again, and the fresh cloud of dust went straight up his nose. Unable to stop himself, the sneeze burst out in a strangled squeak.

"_Hey, there's someone up there!"_

"Aw crud," Mikey breathed, his hands already on his nunchuks. "Get ready to move, girl."

"Good one, Mikey," April shot back as she pulled out her tessen. "Very stealthy."

"Hey, it's not my fault they don't take pride in keeping a clean black market kaiju morgue. No attention to workmanship or health and safety standards in lairs these days."

"Heads up," April hissed. "Here come the guns."

"Then there go the ninjas." Grabbing an egg from his pocket, and breathing a silent sigh of thanks that he'd stumbled across Donnie making them and hadn't lost any of his powers of persuasion - or at the very least, his powers of being annoying enough that Donnie finally gave him a few just to make him shut up and leave - Mikey smashed it on the rafter. "Move!"

"They're getting away!"

Keeping half an eye on April, Mikey watched the Dragons through the drifting smoke as they fired into the empty space where he and April had been. The Dragons had all eyes on the ceiling, trying to pick Mikey and April out of the dark. They didn't see the dark shape looming behind them from the door of what must have been the main office of the warehouse.

"_What in the Sam Hill is going on out here?_"

Mikey's eyes widened. That voice. That incredibly annoying voice. "Spider Bytez?" he squeaked. "_He's_ in charge of this?"

"He's slimy enough for it," April shot back, panting a little as she scrambled in front of him.

"Yeah, but… _Spider Bytez? _He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named rounded up all the baddest mutants in the city, but _Spider Bytez_ got away?" He glowered down at the hulking figure. "I'm insulted on behalf of mutants everywhere."

"Focus, Mikey!"

"_Somebody shoot them down! Jeezum Crow, do I have to do everything myself?"_ With that delightful bellow of confidence in his men, the mutant in question hauled himself out of his office.

Apparently, their boss didn't spend much time hanging out with the workers. One of the Dragons, whose tattoo bore the vividness of fresh ink, caught sight of the mutant and let out a scream of shock, stumbling backward into the table holding Noshucho's head.

"Careful, you moron!" Spider Bytez hollered. "I could sell _you _and not get half as much as that thing- wait, what's it doing?"

Nobody was paying attention to the ceiling anymore. The force of the Dragon blundering into the table had knocked the cranium over, and it was suddenly pulsing a very angry, very vivid blue.

"Uh oh," Mikey breathed. "Nothing good comes from that colour. April, _move!_"

But even as he let out the cry, a shrill sound like a screaming teakettle full of angry bees burst from the kaiju brain, and a pulse of blue light flooded the warehouse. Mikey threw up his arms, trying to shield his eyes, trying to shield _April_, and praying fervently that the light didn't melt his skin off or something.

The light faded, and he looked down, breathing a sigh of relief. Still in one piece. Hooray for skin.

Spider Bytez apparently wasn't is as good of a mood about the lack of skin-melting as Mikey was; he rounded on the clumsy Dragon, who was now sitting on the floor staring at the tattoo on his arm. "You _idiot! _You're lucky I don't-"

But the Dragon, whose head had snapped toward the mutant when he'd started yelling, let out a high, shrill scream that cut Spider Bytez' diatribe short. Mikey was sure that his own expression mirrored the flummoxed look on the spider mutant's as the Dragon promptly wet himself and burst into tears.

And then _all _of the Purple Dragons started crying. Except for one, who was off in a corner exclaiming in glee over the gun in his hands and firing it at whatever happened to be nearby.

"What…" Spider Bytez looked helplessly from one weeping gang member to another. "What are you _doing_? Get up!"

"I want my mooooooom!" a Dragon howled in response.

"I gots a tattoo now? Gramma's gonna kill me!"

"I don't like this dream! Mamaaaaa!"

"Daaaaaad!"

"Nanaaaaaaa!"

Spider Bytez pressed his hands to his ears. "Shut up! All of you _shut up_, you buncha babies!"

"Babies…" Mikey breathed, watching the glow flicker and die from the kaiju brain. "We never got to see what Noshucho could do before- before it mysteriously vanished in a way I had nothing to do with. I think it made them all think they're kids again." He bit back a laugh, turning to glance over his shoulder. "This is-"

April clung to the beam behind him, pale as a carving in the Boneyard. The grime from the rafters stood out in sharp relief against the tracks that the tears streaming down her face had cut through the dirt. She stared at him, shaking, and the look she fixed him with was one he'd never thought he'd have to see coming from his sister.

Horror. Sheer, stark horror. She was terrified… of _him?_

"April?" Slowly, he reached out a hand.

She recoiled, screaming, and her arm lashed out toward him. Before he could think, before he could _move_, searing pink light filled his field of vision. Which was the last thing he saw before everything went black.

* * *

Pain. There was no way a turtle should be in this much pain unless he'd had one _hell_ of a good time beforehand. Groaning, Mikey raised a hand, checking to make sure that the throbbing split in his head was metaphorical and that his brains weren't actually leaking out of his skull.

"Owwww," he whined, cracking open his eyes and instantly regretting it. Even dim, murky warehouse light was way too much light right now. "What hit me?"

He felt like he'd been hit by a bus. An actual bus, and not just an excuse to cover a night out. A bus with spikes on the wheels. And barbed wire. And full of penguins. Driven by a T rex. Or an armadillo. A really mean one, who put the milk back in the fridge after drinking it all and always ate the last slice of pizza.

"Mmmm," he sighed. "Pizza."

Wait… what was he doing again? Right. Hit by a bus.

No… not a bus.

"April!" Mikey gasped, sitting bolt upright and very nearly flinging himself off the rafter he was sprawled on in the process. Clamping one hand to his head in a vain attempt to get it to stop spinning as his other hand clung to the rafter, he tried to put his very fuzzy memories back in order.

A low groan from below him derailed his thoughts, and he warily peered down over the rafter. Right. He remembered the piles of kaiju goo. And Spider Bytez, who seemed to have faceplanted onto a table full of rotting entrails. Awesome. Stifling a snicker, Mikey's gaze swept the rest of the warehouse, but they seemed to be alone now. None of the Purple Dragons remained. The smirk slipped from Mikey's face as the rest of his memories fell into place. The Dragons were gone, and so was April.

"Aw, no," Mikey breathed, his stomach sinking. "Nononono…."

"Did anyone get the number of that bus?" came the low drawl from below. Mikey scowled, attempting to convince his feet to work as Spider Bytez struggled out of the kaiju guts. "Wait… what the heck was that?"

Mikey's foot slipped, sending him down hard. The collision of shell against I-beam rang through the warehouse, drawing Spider Bytez' attention upward.

"Sweet Mary Margaret, are you kidding me?" the mutant snapped. "_Turtles_ again? What does it take to get rid of you guys? The end of the world isn't enough?"

"What can I-nggh- say?" Mikey rose on trembling legs, clinging to a cross beam to stop his knees from giving out. "We're a stubborn breed."

"Nahhh, I remember now. That- that _thing._ That light. That came from your little redhead, didn't it?"

Mikey's knees stopped trembling. His eyes narrowed as his hand clenched on the beam. "What redhead?"

Spider Bytez snorted, brushing intestines off one of his arms. "Nice try, moron, but I got eight eyes. I know what I saw." His smile bared a mouthful of teeth that would make a shark jealous. "Now, losing that kaiju brain thing is gonna cost me a lot of money. So is replacing my entire crew. But I bet I could get quite a profit from your little friend there. Might just make up for all the damage you caused."

All of the haze lifted from his mind as his attention honed with razor focus on the mutant below him. Mikey's hand curled around his nunchuks. "I don't think so," he growled.

"Whaddya gonna do about it?" Spider Bytez taunted back. "You ain't goin' nowhere!"

Mikey moved - or tried to. His mind may have gotten back with the program, but the rest of his body hadn't quite gotten the memo. Before he could get his hand off the beam, it was encased in thick, sticky threads that glued it fast to the metal.

"Ugh, that is _nasty_! I don't want that stuff on me! It comes out of your butt!"

"It does _not_!" Spider Bytez shot back. "It comes from my spinnerets."

"Whatever, man." Behind his back, his thumb found the release and he felt the reassuring click of his kusarigama blade releasing. "I don't wanna touch your nasty butt glue."

"It's not butt glue, it's a perfectly natural process!"

"So's pooping, but I don't want that on me, either!"

Spider Bytez, shaking with rage, let out a howl that was positively Raph-worthy. "It's not from my butt! I use highly specialized organs to create a high tensile silk that is one of the strongest substances on Earth and makes me a freakin' miracle of nature, so take your butt glue and shove it up your-"

"Jerksquishedbykaiju says what?" Mikey said.

Spider Bytez blinked half of his eyes. "What?"

Mikey's kusarigama swung in a glittering arc, cleaving the wires holding a massive set of half-cleaned kaiju ribs above the warehouse floor. Spider Bytez had just enough time to let out a shriek before the whole reeking lot of it crashed down on top of him and obscured him from view.

"Jerkface," Mikey muttered, slashing through the silk binding his hand to the beam. "Talking smack about _my _sister…"

With any luck, the sister in question hadn't gone far. But as he cleared the window they'd used to break into the warehouse, the alleys below were totally, bleakly empty.

"April, come on." He swung himself to the roof they'd started on, fervently wishing they'd just stuck to ice cream. "Work with me here. Give me a clue." But the only answer was the low whine of a police siren moving through the distant streets. Cursing under his breath, he zipped up his flight jacket and started to run. There were only so many places she could have gone, and he'd find her if it killed him. No way he was letting her go through this. This was supposed to have been a chance for her to unwind and have fun with him, and now she was kaiju-zapped and lost somewhere in a ruined city.

"Not, all things considered, your smoothest kidnapping, Mikey."

* * *

Hours later, he was no closer to finding her. He slumped against a wall, panting, as he struggled to focus through the weary burning in his eyes. He should have brought the others in on this ages ago, but he'd left his Tphone behind as part of his stupid kidnapping scheme, and he was terrified that in the time it took to get back to the Shatterdome, something awful might happen to her. For hours, he'd been utterly convinced that if he just looked over one more ledge, if he just hopped one more rooftop, she'd be there. All those ones… they added up.

He couldn't even use a payphone, because he had no idea what his brothers' numbers were. They were all saved to his contacts. Stupid technology. His brows drawing into a scowl, he picked up a pebble and chucked it across the roof. "Who memorizes phone numbers any more anyway?"

The pigeon sitting on the wire overhead was unimpressed by his outburst, and dropped a load of poop before taking off for quieter surroundings.

"Oh, not you, too," Mikey muttered. Shaking his head, he shoved his chilled hands into his pockets and tried to calm his frantic thoughts. "Okay, think Michelangelo. What would Leo do?" He frowned. "Besides yell at me."

He let his head fall back against the wall with a thunk that was probably harder than it needed to be. Leo would have found April already. He'd probably have done some ninja meditation thing like he did with Splinter when they went all astral plane-y and one with the universe-

He gasped, straightening suddenly. He'd spent long enough in Leo's head, he ought to have known that was _exactly_ what Leo would do. Only not quite through meditation. Yanking his hands out of his pockets, Mikey stared down at them. If he thought about it, he could still feel the burning beneath his skin that had been there, very faintly, since the day he and Leo had ghost drifted hard enough to move their Jaeger. His connection to Leo was still there. It was always there, he just didn't think about it much. And it was strong, because they'd spent an awful lot of time in the Drift since April and Takahashi had yanked them out of the lab.

But he'd drifted with April, too. More than once.

Mikey shifted, folding his legs beneath him. Gradually, he evened out his breathing, trying to remember everything Splinter had taught him. Dammit, why hadn't he listened more carefully? The blaring of traffic, the fluttering of pigeons overhead, the ubiquitous pebbles on the rooftops that dug into his skin and inevitably found their way under his kneepads - one by one, they all fell away. Letting out a slow, long breath, he rested his hands against his knees and closed his eyes, blocking out every other sound, every distraction that clamoured for his attention, until he sank down into that place where the neural bridge dragged him every time he entered the Drift.

There, beneath the sea of blue that lived constantly in the back of Mikey's head, was a faint, glimmering strand of gold.

* * *

Once he'd honed in on that thread in the Drift, it took almost no time to find her. When he did, he could have kicked himself. April was one of the smartest people he knew; it made sense that she'd been a smart kid, too. And what did smart kids do when they got lost? They found their way back home.

Unfortunately, that really depended on having a home to come back to.

Poetic, really, that things had come full circle. He perched on the edge of the fire escape, looking down at the lonely little figure huddled on the swing below him. His first real fight had been in this park. His first glimpse of the true face of the Kraang had been in the alley just below him. The first time he'd ever seen April had been right here on this rooftop. He wished he'd known then what he knew now - he might have paid a lot more attention.

Mikey dropped on silent feet to the alley below, keeping to the shadows. He had to be smarter this time. If he scared her again, he wasn't sure he could take another jolt of whatever she'd done to him before. He frowned as he leaned against the wall, watching April dig a toe into the dirt under the swings. She didn't look so hot, either. Better for both of them if he did things right this time, so he could get her checked out by the professionals. If only he knew what right was. Dammit, Donnie would have been way better at figuring out how to un-brain-scramble her. Or Leo. What would Leo-

He caught himself with a small shake of his head. No, what would _April_ do?

Mikey looked again at the playground, memories playing out before him. Donnie, holding out his hands, just waiting. Months later, April volunteering to take Mikey topside when he couldn't hold still, the night ending with Mikey spinning her on that merry-go-round so hard she flew off, which would have been disastrous if he hadn't been fast enough to catch her when she came back down. Later still, during a night when he was feeling particularly overlooked and misunderstood, they'd sat on those same swings as April challenged him to see who could swing the highest. He'd won, of course, but April had refused to back down until he was laughing again, so in a way, she'd won, too.

Still keeping to the shadows, he eased forward and cleared his throat softly. "A friend once told me something about that swing." Keeping his voice low, he pitched it a little closer to the way it had sounded when he was fifteen. "It's a lot more fun when it's moving."

April's head had snapped toward the shadows as soon as he'd started speaking. Her wide eyes, raw and red, darted across the darkness, and the hands clutching the chains of the swing were shaking. "Stay away!" she called.

All he wanted to do was run over there and hug her. She sounded so _lost_, and her face was still wet with tears. But he held his place.

"April, I know you're scared, and I know you don't remember, but I'm your friend."

Her trembling lip set in a stubborn pout - at least that hadn't changed - and she shook her head. "Nuh-uh. You don't sound like anyone I know."

"I know," he soothed. "That's 'cause you got hit with a memory beam and it made you forget. Like in Space Heroes, when that jellyfish alien thing made the girl with the blue hair forget everybody, and she kicked that captain's butt." He laughed, letting his breath out on a sigh. "Man, that episode was awesome."

The faintest ghost of a smile tugged at her lips before she wrapped her arms more tightly around the swing. "I don't believe you. That's just a story."

"But I knew you'd know it," he pointed out. "Just like I know your Dad's name is Kirby, and he's a scientist. I know that sometimes you cook dinner because he gets distracted by his experiments and forgets. I know you have the sweetest collection of action figures ever." A tiny step brought him closer. Not enough for her to see him clearly, but enough to know he was there. "Petunia the Destroyer is still the best, though."

"'Course she is," April said softly. "She has a death ray." She was still wary, but the shaking had eased a little. "How'd you know that?"

"I know you," he answered. "We've played together a bunch, before. You just don't remember."

At that, her lip started trembling again, and a fresh wave of tears coursed down her face. "I- I don't remember how I got to the bad place. I tried to come home, but Daddy isn't answering the door and my _hair's short,_ and I don't- I don't kn-know, where to go…" The last word broke on a sob, and it took every ounce of willpower in his body to keep himself where he was.

"I know. But it'll be okay, I promise. I'm here, and I'm not gonna let anything happen to you."

"Where's my dad?" The plaintive cry came as a soft wail.

Mikey drew a breath. She was gonna make _him_ cry at this rate. "He's fine. He got sick, and he's at the hospital right now getting better. He'll be okay, but they need to keep an eye on him, just to make sure he doesn't get sick again."

At the mention of the hospital, the shaking came back, borne on a fresh flood of tears. "M-my mom's gone. Who's gonna take care of m-me?"

"I am," he assured her quickly.

It was the wrong answer. Between the howls of fear and sorrow that burst from her, she managed to get out a strangled, "but I don't _know you!_"

_April, you're killing me!_ Mikey pressed his hands to his temples. He was blowing it. _Think_, _Michelangelo. This is April. What would she do?_

"Your dad knows me though," he raised his voice only loud enough to be heard above her tears. "And I know you. I know that you feel things sometimes. Things you can't even explain to your dad."

That got her attention. She raised her tear-streaked face, rubbing a fist against her cheek, which only served to smear the grime even worse. Emboldened, Mikey inched forward just a little more.

"I need you to listen to those feelings now, April," Mikey said gently. "Listen real hard. What do they tell you about me?"

That little line she got between her brows when she was thinking hard made an appearance so welcome Mikey could have cheered. Instead, he held very still as she peered into the shadows. The line deepened, but the tension in her body eased a bit.

Taking a long, slow breath, Mikey decided it was time to take a gamble. "Just good stuff, right? That's 'cause even though you don't remember, you still know me. Just like in Space Heroes, when the lady trusted the little dude the captain hits all the time. That's why you gotta trust me right now. I'm gonna come where you can see me, and I look funny, like that alien dude. The big one."

"Grundsch," she said quietly.

"Yeah, him," Mikey agreed. "But even though I look funny, I'm still one of the good guys, just like Grundsch. You can feel that, right?"

She bit her lip, and her shoulders rose quickly in a little shrug. Well, at least it wasn't a no. Steeling himself, Mikey stepped into the light.

April stiffened, recoiling in shock, but at least she wasn't screaming this time. He held still, letting her stare as long as she needed to, and after her eyes had taken it all in, he slowly held out his hand. And waited.

Fifteen-year-old Mikey couldn't have done it. Hell, day-to-day twenty-year-old Mikey couldn't have done it. But this was April, and for April, he forced himself to remain perfectly still, waiting for a seeming eternity as she stared at him, and glanced back at the street as though judging how far it was to run, and then turned back to him and just _looked_ at him for another eternity. Then, very slowly, she eased herself off the swing.

He was practically vibrating with the need to move, but he stayed, hand outstretched, as she crept warily toward him. Very slowly, she reached out her hand, until, at last, her fingertips brushed against his.

Shock surged through the touch, and Mikey bit his lip to keep from crying out as April jerked away. "What happened?" she squeaked.

"I think that was one of your feelings," he answered. "Sometimes they get stronger if you touch somebody." Smiling at her, he wiggled a finger. "You can try again. It's okay. It's just surprising. It doesn't hurt."

Again she reached out, and this time, she waited through the surge. Slowly, Mikey wrapped his hand around hers, lightly enough that she could still pull free if she needed to. This close, his brain still fixed on that gold thread at the back of his mind, he could have sworn that her psychic whatever was going both ways. He could _feel_ it. It was April, all warmth, and comfort, and sisterly love, and that thread of temper and stubbornness wrapping the whole thing up like a net. Briefly, he wondered how he felt to her.

Whatever it was, it brought forth a fresh wave of tears. But before he could freak out about it, she stepped forward and buried her face against him.

_Well then_, he thought, blinking in surprise. _Good thing it was me out here tonight and not Raph._ Mikey let his arms drift up around her, and when her only response was to dig her fingers around the edges of his plastron and cling like a little limpet, he held her close and stroked her hair as she let out the last of her tears.

"See?" he teased playfully. "What did I tell you?"

She shook her head. "I don't get it," she whined. "An' my hair's still short."

"It'll grow," he promised. "But it looks adorable that way."

The laugh she gave was small, and half-hearted, and soggy with tears, but it was still a laugh.

"That's my girl." He gave her head a gentle pat. "How 'bout I take you home now, and we have someone take a look at that head of yours?"

At that, she tensed again, shaking her head violently. "No! I'm not supposed to go with strangers."

"But we just figured out that I'm not a stranger, didn't we?"

Her head tipped up toward him, and she had that pouty scowl again. Mikey's heart dropped a little. His wonderful, stubborn sister was not going to make this easy. It was funny when she did it to other people. Sucked to be him right now, though.

"_You're_ not," she said, in a tone that rivalled Donnie's when he was stating what he thought should have been obvious. "But I don't know the people where you're taking me."

"I do, though," he pointed out. "And you trust me, right?"

She raised a skeptical brow. "Maybe?"

He favoured her with the biggest, brightest smile he had in him. She put up quite a fight, it was definitely impressive, but he could see her struggling to keep from matching it. "How about we make a deal? If I can make you laugh, you'll know I'm a great judge of character and you can trust me to take care of you."

"Nuh-uh." Pulling away from him, April folded her arms and shook her head. "You can't _make_ me laugh."

"Does that mean we have a deal?"

Her mouth quirked and she stuck out her hand. That little quirk turned into a full-on grin when he grabbed her hand and shook it vigorously, but she didn't laugh. Yet.

Fair enough. He knew perfectly well how stubborn she could be, but this particular version of April had never met Dr. Funenstein. If he didn't have her laughing by the time the sun came up, he'd eat his nunchucks.

* * *

Absently, Mikey wondered if hot sauce would make nunchucks any easier to choke down. He'd tried everything, from practical jokes, to whacking himself with any number of inanimate objects, to ventriloquism, and his entire diverse repertoire of bodily function noises, and though she'd cracked a smile a time or two, he still couldn't make her laugh.

"Okay," he sighed, flopping down in the swing next to her. "Gimme a five minute breather, and I'll be good to go again."

She dug her toe into the ground, setting the swing to rocking gently. "Can I just swing for a bit?"

"G'head, honey. You swing all you want." That didn't sound like a bad idea, come to think of it. Pushing himself off, Mikey let the rhythm of the swing soothe away some of his exhaustion. He spared a moment to cast April a sidelong glance. It was unsettling, how she didn't look any different than normal. It wasn't 'till you talked to her that you got any sense that there was a totally different April in there. Well, younger, anyway. Little April might be cute, but he was really starting to miss his big sister.

The girl in question was starting to flag a little on her swing - not that he blamed her. They were up way past a little girl's bedtime. "Want a push?" he asked.

She glanced up at him and nodded solemnly. Giving her a grand salute, he hopped off his own swing and moved behind her. "Hold tight," he said, before planting his hands on her back and giving her a solid push.

April let out a little whoop as the swing rocketed forward, catching her breath as she swung back, and Mikey's ears perked. Did he detect the ghost of a laugh there? Enjoying this plan more and more, he pushed again, sending her swinging even higher.

"Whoa!" she cried. "This is higher than my dad pushes me!"

"Want me to stop?" he called

"Noooo!" she answered back. "Higher!"

"Girl after my own heart." He shoved her again. They were definitely getting closer, but the sounds she was making were still more akin to squeaks than laughter. "How high you wanna go?"

"All the way!" she shouted.

Another push sent her almost parallel with the ground. "How 'bout I make you go over the top?"

"Daddy says that breaks the rules of physics!"

_Man, did you ever end up with the right Drift partner. _Mikey snorted quietly and called back, "I've never been good at rules. Or physics! Wanna go for it?"

"Do it!"

She was coming fast on the backswing. It was now or never. Taking a running start, he reached her just as she was starting to swing forward again. His run piggybacked on that momentum and at the last possible moment, he pushed with every ounce of strength left in his weary arms. April shot forward, hit the full extension of the chains, and began a sweet arc upward.

April screamed, her hands white on the chains, but it wasn't a fear scream. It was the same one he'd given the first time Donnie had given them wings. She kept going, higher and higher, and as Mikey staggered back, his neck craned upward, she passed right over the top.

Beaming so hard it hurt, he listened carefully as her scream drew closer. At the last minute, he took a little step sideways so that she dropped neatly into his outstretched arms while the empty swing careened on past behind her.

April fell abruptly silent, her eyes wide and startled as she stared at him agape. Then, despite every effort she made to hold it back, she dissolved into breathless, hysterical giggles.

_Gotcha. No one outlasts Dr. Funenstein._

"Sooooo," he said, bouncing her and making her laugh harder. "Can I take you to my friends now?"

Bested, and still giggling, she nodded. Her weary head dropped against his shoulder, and he kissed her hair.

"Awwwww," a gratingly familiar and decidedly unwelcome voice drawled from the edge of the playground. "Well ain't that sweet. I may vomit."

April stiffened in Mikey's arms, letting out a quiet gasp as the massive spider mutant stepped into the street lamp's wan yellow light. All trace of humour gone from his face, Mikey shifted his stance, tightening his hold on April.

"I'm giving you one chance to back off, dude," he said, very softly.

Spider Bytez snorted, and Mikey took a step back as the snort produced a spray of thick green venom. "And let you get away with my goods? I don't think so."

"Okay, sis," Mikey murmured into April's ear. "I'm gonna do a thing. I need you to hold on tight, okay?"

She gave a short, sharp nod. Mikey braced himself, breathing deep and even, and waited.

It didn't take long. Running out of patience, Spider Bytez lunged, leading with a wave of sticky spider silk. But Mikey was already in motion. Grabbing April's arm, he swung her onto his back as he leaped and hit the ground running, breaking for the nearest alley. He could hear the lumbering sounds of pursuit behind them - that dude was _so_ not a ninja - and for once he was glad Leo had insisted they start training properly again after Raph nearly got nabbed by Humans First. He was as fast as he'd ever been, and he was going to need it. He had no problems facing Spider Bytez one on one, but he was carrying precious cargo now, and there was no way he was letting that jerk get his hands on her.

He gained the roofs quickly, though SB was still right behind them. Desperately, Mikey scanned the cityscape around them as he vaulted to the next building. They were in unfamiliar territory for Spider Bytez, and it was putting a little distance between them and the rampaging mutant. He had to be smart about this. He couldn't keep running forever, and he'd never make it to the Shatterdome before he ran out of steam. There had to be a solution somewhere, but everything he came up with involved April being _April. _Or a rocket launcher. And neither one was likely to be forthcoming.

April let out a sudden, sharp scream, and her weight vanished from his back. There wasn't time to react. No time to be upset or afraid. Between one heartbeat and the next, the kusarigama was in his hand, the chain lashing toward the strut of the watertower on the next roof. Momentum snapped him to the full extent of the line, lifting him up just like April on her swing, enough for him to look down at the alley below him.

Thick strands of web crossed the gap between the buildings. In the centre of it, April struggled, screaming, as the spider advanced toward her.

Mikey gave the practiced flick of his wrist that freed the kusarigama from its anchor. Twisting in midair, he plunged toward the web, the kusarigama blade reflecting the stars overhead.

He hit the web like a cannonball, and the razor blade in his hand ensured that he ripped straight through the strands. As Spider Bytez' bellows of protest faded away above them, he wrapped an arm around April's waist and curled around her as the ground rushed up to meet them. Hitting the ground rolling, he gritted his teeth against what was still a decidedly uncomfortable impact and rolled to his feet, hoisting April into place on his back.

"You okay there, little lady?"

April's fingers clenched on the collar of his flight jacket, strangling him a little, but he'd take it as a yes. His feet striking the pavement as silently as he could make them, he wiped the sweat from his eyes. What would Leo do? Hell, what would _Donnie_ do? He almost wished he'd tried more than the one time to Drift with his brainy brother, because Donnie at least might be able to come up with a solution to…. to….

_Oh. _The grin slowly overtook his face, and there was more than a little edge to it. _Oh yeah. I know exactly what Donnie would do._

"Hang tight, sis." The words were somewhat breathless - April's brain may have been that of a kid, but she still weighed as much as a twenty-two-year-old - but they held a note of triumph. "I'm gonna get us out of this."

He knew exactly where they were now. In the months after getting sprung from the lab, this had been their second home, at least until they'd been officially drafted into the PPDC. Once they'd become legit, they'd moved operations to the Shatterdome, but he was betting all the beat-up, jury-rigged equipment they'd been strapped into at the time was still here. The stuff was so awful that Donnie hadn't even wanted t it for parts.

But if it _worked_…

Skidding to a halt deep in the shadows where two warehouses met, he let April slip from his back. Taking hold of her hand, he held a finger to his lips, and she nodded gravely. Then, April in tow, he slipped around to the door he knew all too well.

Why it had been painted blue, he never found out. The first time he'd seen it, he'd been so high on painkillers that he hadn't thought to ask why it was the one splash of colour in the sea of grey surrounding it. All the subsequent times, there'd been too many other things to worry about. The paint was peeling now, and countless gangs had graffitied over it - his mouth quirked as he spotted Raph's unmistakable tag in amongst the others. The boy'd been busy since he'd hooked up with Casey.

Tucking April firmly between him and the door just in case, he made short work of the lock. Funny, how many unexpected skills he'd picked up since starting to spend time in Leo's head. Slowly, he cracked the door open, but the shower of dust that accompanied the motion, much to April's disgust, told him they were in the clear. No one had been back here in a long time. Ushering April inside, he ducked through after her and bolted the door behind him. Not that it was the only way in or out - he and his brothers had proved that time and time again in those early months - but the more time he could buy them, the better off they were.

April pressed closed to his side, both arms wrapped around one of his, as he led her down the familiar corridors to the vast, open space at the heart of the building. They'd affectionately called it the rat maze, much to Splinter's annoyance, but the intent behind the machines they'd been run through had been pretty clear. The name fit.

Those machines were silent now, looming out of the dark around them. "I don't like this place," April whispered.

Mikey reached over to pat her hand. "Me neither," he said. "But there's something in here that'll help us, all right? I just need you to trust-"

He felt the sticky touch on his ankle a fraction of a second before his feet were yanked out from under him. He hit the ground hard, driving the breath from his body. "Oh," he wheezed, "you have got to be kidding me."

"You're tellin' me." Spider Bytez yanked on the web, dragging Mikey across the concrete floor. "This night is _way_ more trouble than it's worth. But at least I get the pleasure of offing- ow!" Spider Bytez glanced down, frowning in confusion. "What the-"

April, dwarfed by the massive mutant, stood with her lip sticking stubbornly out and the giant wrench she'd found in one of the piles of scrap poised to whack his leg again. "You stop that!" she cried. "Leave my friend alone!"

Mikey could have kissed her if he wasn't about to wet his pants in fear. Spider Bytez recovered fast, and the leer that spread across his face brought bile to Mikey's throat. "Well," the spider drawled. "Looks like my cargo came right to- ow!" he jerked back as April hit him again. "Will you quit it, you little- ow!" Fed up with the walloping, Spider Bytez loosed a stream of webbing at April, and she hollered in wordless fury as it bound her hands to the wrench. "Now, let's get you- OW! Mother humping son of a-"

Her hands might be stuck to the wrench, but that didn't stop her from swinging it. She'd done some real damage on that last one. A spidery leg was bending the wrong way now, and Spider Bytez wasn't amused anymore. Growling, he moved toward April, venom welling in his mouth.

"Hey, four eyes!" Mikey called.

Spider Bytez stiffened and glanced back at Mikey. "I have _eight_ eyes you uneducated - _hey!"_

The mutant realized too late that while he'd been focused on April, Mikey had been busy freeing his feet., and his shuriken were already on their way toward the ceiling. As the satisfying _ping_ of severed cables snapping resonated throughout the room, Mikey gave a jaunty wave before diving toward April. He struck hard, knocking her out of the way as the giant, rusted arm that had been suspended overhead came crashing down on top of the moron really needed to stop standing under big, heavy stuff.

"He's not very polite," April commented quietly.

"No." Mikey eased himself back to his feet. "No, he's not."

April held up her cocooned hands, and her arms were trembling beneath the weight of the wrench. "Stuck. But I hit him real good anyway."

"You sure did. Nice work, slugger!" Cutting April free, he took her hand and tugged her across the room. "But I know better than to trust that'll hold him. We gotta move fast."

"What are you gonna do?" April asked.

Mikey slowed as a towering frame loomed out of the dark, dripping wires like a tree overgrown with vines. Even now, this thing made him uncomfortable. "Blast from the past," he whispered. Placing a hand on April's cheek, he tilted her head toward him. "You trust me?" She nodded, and he kissed her forehead. "Good girl. This isn't gonna be comfortable. At all. But it's nothing I haven't done a hundred times, okay? I promise it'll be all right."

"Okay," she said, her hand tightening on his.

Drawing her over to the left side of the machine, he kicked the table below the overhanging equipment out of the way. A small thrill of satisfaction ran through him as the table flipped over, and the buckles on the many straps that covered the thing rang against the concrete. "We won't be needing that," he said.

He tugged off his jacket and folded it, placing it on the ground and urging April down until she was sitting just in front of it. "Floor's not too cold on your booty?" he asked. That got a grin out of her, and she shook her head. "Good. Wait right there."

Gaining his feet, he rushed over to the console at the base of the central pillar, brushing the dust away from the readouts. Holding his breath, he reached for the power switch and flipped it open.

Electricity hummed through the console, the readouts flickering to life, and he let out his breath in a rush. At least _something _was going right today. His hands danced across the console with an ease that would have done Donnie proud. He'd seen this done enough times that he could do it in his sleep at this point. The whine of the equipment intensified, and as he yanked on the lever at the far side of the panel, the arms of the machine began descending.

April glanced up uneasily, but Mikey was back at her side in a second, his hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. It's all part of the ride."

They'd prettied up the Shatterdome version of this thing a lot in the years since he'd first been strapped into it, until it was almost unrecognizable compared to its Shatterdome counterpart, but it still did exactly what it was supposed to do. Mikey reached up to grab the wires dangling from the end of the arm and frowned at an unexpected setback. They'd always used adhesive pads to stick the electrodes to… Oh. Right. He tugged off the webbing still clinging to his ankle and pulled it into pieces like really nasty candy floss, using it to stick the electrodes to April's head.

"What're you doing?"

He grinned at her. "Gonna make you as smart as me," he said, and laughed at the expression that crossed her face. "Oh, man. I'd be hurt if that look hadn't been quite so awesome. You'd do Donnie proud."

"Who?" she asked.

"You'll see. Soon." Finishing his work, he placed a hand behind her head. "Now lean back, okay?" Gently, he guided her until her head was resting on the pillow of his jacket. "I know it's cold, but it'll be over in just a minute. I gotta go over there for a sec, but we'll be together soon."

Not giving her time to protest, he darted across to the other arm, shoving the table and its binding straps out of the way and fixing the electrodes to his head. Palming a chunk of concrete that had been knocked out of the floor when the arm fell on Spider Bytez, he looked over at where April lay. "Okay. Now count down with me, April. Five… four…" her voice, uncertain but strong enough to make him proud, joined with his. "Three… two….one."

He hurled the rock toward the console. His aim always had been the best, and they'd so obligingly made the machine with a big, red button just begging to be pushed.

_Neural handshake: initiated._

Power surged through the machine and dragged them both into the fathomless blue of the Drift.

* * *

..._girl alone on a swing, wondering if it was more fun if you had friends to swing with…_

_...FINALLY getting his turn on the new tire swing and OH! it was better than anything he had ever imagined better than ninjutsu better than teddy bears better than algae and worms…_

…_but there were more of them, _four _of them, and they hadn't been able to save her father _why?...

_...and then he stopped, midway to the kitchen, because April was standing there, dripping wet and looking lost, and then his arms were around her, squeezing until her feet left the ground, and she was laughing, laughing…_

_...screaming as the buildings fell around them, and Dad wasn't even verbal any more, but Mikey had him by the hand, leading him away from the monster's path - oh god, the buildings - but Mikey wouldn't let anything happen to…_

_...crying, tears streaming down his face, and it _hurt_, and Leo __**not strong enough this is your fault not strong enough **__it hurt why wouldn't it STOP?..._

_...he'd been in the Foot clan, and she'd once smacked Leo for trusting one of them, but every sense she had said he was sincere, and Takahashi was the only hope they had of…_

_...the rusted van creaked and groaned as it bore them away from the lab and he couldn't believe it was real and not a dream but dreams didn't hurt and oh god it hurt but Leo was screaming he needed the others more he really did but it hurt so bad and he was so scared to be alone..and then April. Her hands, so gentle, so unlike those that had hurt him, lifting his head to rest in her lap, and it was soft, and warm, and it didn't hurt, and he wept harder because of that, and her hands were there, wrapping around his, and her eyes promised everything would be all right-_

* * *

Sudden, blinding pain burst behind Michelangelo's eyes a second before he hit the floor. The world lurched, and he fought the gorge rising in his throat as a familiar warmth trickled down his face. Shit, but this machine had never been stingy with the nosebleeds-

The world spun again, and Mikey finally realized why he was so damn disoriented. The Drift hadn't ended - he'd been yanked out of it. There were pieces of April still in his head. He rolled, trying to get his feet under himself, but every movement brought a fresh wave of pain, and vertigo, and nausea, and in another instant, he was flung across the room to land squarely in a mass of sticky webbing stretched between two machines. All the straining he could muster was fruitless - he was facing one very pissed off and decidedly battered Spider Bytez, and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it.

The spider staggered a few steps as he glared at Mikey with the one eye that hadn't swelled shut. The wreckage of the metal arm had done a number on the other mutant - countless cuts scored his body, and more than one of his legs was twisted at an angle. "You-" Spider Bytez grated.

Mikey sniffed, gagging again as a slimy mix of snot and blood slid down his throat. "Dude, you should take a load off. You don't look so good."

"You think you're so funny." Spider Bytez took a trembling step toward him, venom dripping from his fangs. "But I'm done with it. Before I deal with your little friend, I'm gonna end you."

He moved closer, and Mikey could _smell_ the venom. It was like an unpleasant mix of sour milk and burnt sugar. Mikey flinched away, but the web held fast. There was nowhere to go to escape the-

"_OW!" _Spider Bytez staggered back, raising a hand to the fresh cut streaming blood into his good eye. "What in the pig farting Sam Hill-?"

Despite the pain, and the nausea, and the helplessness, Mikey was beaming. An instant later, the tessen that had dealt the blow to Spider Bytez smacked into April's upraised hand as her tiny bad self skidded between the two mutants.

"Oh, are you _serious_?" Spider Bytez snapped. "That's it. Screw the payoff. Once I get through with that freaking frog, I'm eating you, too!"

Mikey couldn't see her face, but he _knew_ that set of her shoulders. It was usually enough to send her family members running for cover. He hadn't thought it was possible, but his grin got even wider. _That_ was the April he knew and loved.

Her voice was raw, as though she'd been screaming. Maybe she had been and he'd missed it - the Drift was weird like that. But her words were crystal clear and cold as ice as she flicked open the tessen again.

"Stay. Away. From my. _Brother!_"

But it wasn't the hand holding the tessen that reached for the spider mutant. It was her empty one. Mikey had only a moment to brace himself before light flooded the room, searing the shadows from the dark and laying them bare. Mikey flinched, closing his eyes against it the blinding glow, but this time, there was no pain. No accompanying darkness. When the light faded, Spider Bytez lay crumpled in a small, motionless pile against the far wall.

"Whoa," Mikey breathed. "April. That was…"

He trailed off as she turned to face him. Her face was almost as green as his. The tessen flew from her hand, slicing through the webbing just above Mikey's arm, but she didn't catch it on its return. She'd doubled over, and the tessen soared past her, clattering to a halt on the floor just under the machine they'd been wired into only minutes before.

Mikey winced in sympathy as the sound of retching filled the room. The prototype worked, and it got you into the Drift just fine, but it wasn't gentle, even when you weren't being forcibly yanked out of it early by an angry spider. Freeing himself from the rest of the webbing, Mikey went to retrieve her tessen, knowing from experience that interfering with April mid-yark was a surefire way to earn yourself a punch in the head. Picking up his flight jacket from the floor, he brushed the dust off and slipped it on before returning to April, holding her weapon out like a peace offering. "Hey," he said gently. "You dropped this."

She turned toward him, and he didn't much like the lack of comprehension in her eyes as she stared at the tessen. God, she was a mess. Her face was crusted with bile, and snot, and drying blood from her own nosebleed, though to be fair, he probably didn't look much better. Slowly, April reached for the tessen, but she wobbled, and her knees began to buckle.

"Whoa." Catching her before she could hit the ground, Mikey swung her up into his arms. "Come on. Let's get you some air before you do a concrete swandive."

He didn't know if Spider Bytez was still alive. Didn't much care, at this point. Dude wasn't going anywhere anytime soon if he was. Nevertheless, Mikey carried April a fair distance away from the warehouse before he touched down in a pretty rooftop garden. Bracing April against a large pot of rhododendrons, he borrowed a teatowel from the washing line by the stairs and dipped it into the pool of a small ornamental fountain.

Kneeling next to April, he used the damp cloth to wipe away the blood and grime. Gradually, the glazed, distant look left her eyes, and she focused on his face. "Mikey?"

Smiling, he set the cloth aside. "Finally! There you are. I've been looking everywhere for you." Sobering a little, he brushed a strand of her bangs aside, his eyes searching her face. "You okay? How much do you remember?"

"Everything," she whispered. Shaking, she covered her mouth with her hands. "Oh, Mikey. What did I do?"

Her voice was muffled by her hands, but he heard enough to worry him. Frowning, he scooted over and put an arm around her. "You saved me," he said. "You were _awesome_, April. Why are you so upset?"

"Mikey, _look_ at me!" She held up her hands, examining them as though they'd show some sign of whatever it was she'd done to Spider Bytez. "I may look human, but what kind of person can do _that?_"

His brow furrowed. "A superhero?"

She shook her head, tears welling in her eyes. "You're sweet, Mikey. But we both know that the Kraang don't make superheroes."

"April." He took her by the shoulders, shaking her very gently. "You're not making sense. What the heck are you talking about?"

"Can't you see it?" Her voice held a frantic edge, and she pulled away from him, holding out her hands. "The only kind of creatures we know of who can do something as insane as an energy blast are kaiju! Which are made by the Kraang." She ran her fingers through her hair, grabbing onto a handful. "The Kraang made me too! Or part of me anyway. Come on, Mikey, it doesn't take a genius to put two and two together!"

"Wait," he said incredulously. "You… you think you're a _kaiju_?"

"What other explanation is there?" The tears finally fell, and she rose to her feet, moving away from him. "It's getting worse. The feelings. The dreams. Now _this_." Shaking her head, she turned away from him. "I don't know what they did to me. What if one day they flip a switch, and make me turn on _you_? I couldn't…. Mikey, I have to go."

She didn't just mean from the roof. Sighing, Mikey rose to his feet. "You know, for someone so smart, you really are a dummy."

April turned, her expression warring between surprised and insulted. "What?"

"Okay, one-" He held up a finger and tapped her temple. "I've been in there. There's a lot of weird stuff in there, but I'm pretty sure I'd know a Kraang if I saw one. And two…" he smirked. "I've spent half the night chasing you around because you thought you were a kid again."

"What does that have to do with anything?" she demanded.

"Think about it, sis," he said. "There were only two people in that warehouse who didn't get baby-fied after that kaiju brain did its whammy thing."

"You and Spider Bytez…" she said slowly.

"Uh huh," he said. "Both mutants. And what are kaiju? Really big mutants, right? Makes sense, though. Kaiju brain weapons probably aren't much good in a fight if they scramble their own troops, so kaiju have to be immune. So _now_ how do those numbers add up?"

He could see the exact moment the conclusion he'd already drawn smacked her over the head. A tremor ran through her, and her gaze snapped up to meet his. "Oh!" she gasped.

"Bingo."

"Ohhh," she said again, softer, and her hand covered her mouth.

Taking pity on her, Mikey stepped forward and gathered her into his arms. After a token resistance, she buried her head against his shoulder and clung tightly to him. "There you go, smart girl," he said gently, rubbing her back."You may be part mutant, but our little adventure in kaiju-induced baby-sitting proves that you are one hundred percent human. And a pretty neat kid, to boot."

She gave a soft snort of laughter. In response, he tightened his hold around her waist until her feet left the ground and swung her in a wide circle. She gave a breathless little squeak, but it had been a long time since he'd had a chance to just hug her like he used to when they were teenagers, and they both really needed it.

When he eventually set her down again, her tears were dry. Smiling, she slipped her arm through his. "Hey, Mikey?"

"Hmmm?"

"Thanks for looking out for me."

Mikey shot her a charming grin, and walked her toward the edge of the roof. "You may have noticed, that's what I do." Plucking a hibiscus from a pot on the ledge, he tucked it behind her ear. "I'm good at it."

"You're good at a lot of things," she agreed. "But what you did today - Mikey, that was brilliant." She sighed, stepping up to the edge of the roof. "I'm just sorry you had to go back to that place to do it."

Taking a step, she plunged off the edge of the roof. A second later, her feet rang against the fire escape. Mikey followed, landing on the rail and perching there as April got ready for the next jump. "How much did you see in the Drift?"

April leaped to the fire escape on the next building over, and the look she cast over her shoulder at him was full of sorrow. "Enough."

They gained the next roof together and struck out across the rooftops toward the Shatterdome. As they moved together in companionable silence, April's steps growing steadier as she ran off her earlier shock, a part of him wished that they could drift together more often. He wouldn't trade Leo or Shell Shocker for the world, but part of him liked the idea of having someone else around who knew the things he never talked about. It was a heavy weight to carry, but April was one of the few people he thought he could trust with it.

"I know I don't say this enough," she said as they neared the Shatterdome grounds. "But you are one smart cookie, Mikey."

"I knew one day _someone_ would appreciate me," he laughed. Grabbing her around the waist, he loosed his kusarigama and swung them over the fence. She caught the access ladder on the other side easily, scaling it almost as fast as he could. "You know, " he said thoughtfully, as they made their way back to the rooftop door. "I've been thinking of maybe going by Mike. Just to try it out."

"Mike, huh?" She smiled at him and moved to fix the chain of his dog tags, which had caught on his collar sometime during all the swinging. "I like it." Reaching up, she gave the tails of his mask a playful yank. "I may still end up calling you Mikey sometimes, though."

"_You_ are allowed," he said, and pulled open the door, bowing theatrically with a sweep of his arm. "Aprez-vous, my lady."

April rolled her eyes with a laugh. "Save it for Jane and the others, you big ham."

Before either one of them could move, a rough, aggrieved groan sounded behind them. They turned in unison, and were confronted by the sight of a very battered Raph and Leo hauling themselves over the edge of the roof.

Leo raised a brow. "I'm sure there's a good explanation for this," he said.

Mikey exchanged a glance with April, and shrugged. "Dude, sometimes you just _need_ ice cream, y'know?"

* * *

All April wanted was bed, and she was sure Mikey was in need of sleep just as much as she was. Raph and Leo radiated exhaustion, and to the surprise of all of them, they practically tripped over Casey and Donnie in the stairwell, who looked like they'd been hit by a runaway bus. But sleep was not in the cards just yet; Leo called a family meeting in the lounge. It was quick, taking almost no time at all to run down the plan for their return to the streets in and around their Ranger duties, but it gave them a lot to think about as they parted ways. It turned out that every one of the rangers had been through something tonight, but something about Leo felt….different. She resolved to ask him about it as soon as she could - she was due for a talk with both big brother and team leader, in light of her newfound talent - but it could wait. Leo had already claimed Donnie for an urgent conference, despite the fact that Donatello was so tired he was practically swaying on his feet.

But he wasn't so tired that he didn't notice the wear and tear the night had left on her. After assuring Leo he'd be along shortly, Donnie made his way to April and placed his hands on her shoulders, studying her face carefully. "Hey," he said gently. "You okay?"

Lying to him was pointless, and she had no desire to anyway. Instead, she shrugged, and mustered a smile. "I'll live. We've got a lot to talk about when we've both had some sleep."

One thing she had always been able to trust with Donatello was that when she set a firm boundary, he respected it. His interpretation of that boundary may occasionally have been flexible - especially when they were younger - but he wouldn't challenge her. He wouldn't let it go entirely, of course, and she knew he was filing it away for later, but he trusted her as much as she trusted him, so he just stepped forward, opening his arms, and let her fall against him. She closed her eyes as he hugged her, letting the depth of their connection steady her and bolster her strength, until she had enough that she could bring herself to let go.

"Don't worry, Dee," Mikey said from the doorway, rubbing an eye as he yawned. "I'll make sure she gets some shuteye."

"Yeah, that goes for both of you," Donnie said, his clinical gaze taking in Mikey's assorted cuts and bruises, and Mikey snapped off a salute in return that carried absolutely no overtones of respect with it. Smiling fondly at her two idiots, April headed for the officers' quarters, grabbing Michelangelo's collar on her way past and hauling him out the door.

Several minutes and one fatigue-induced wrong turn later, they were in April's quarters, and April was cursing colourfully at the blankets strewn around the room. She didn't know what had happened, and wasn't sure she _wanted_ to. But she was going to have a talk with Casey about making the damn bed when he was done with it. Fortunately, Mikey came to the rescue yet again.

"You don't have to do this," she said, tucking the blankets back in on her side of the bed as Mikey enthusiastically went at the other.

"I know," he said. "But I was in the corps way before you. This is practically muscle memory now." Finishing off, he smoothed the sheets with a flourish and gestured. "Hop in." He turned his back politely, covering his eyes for good measure. Shaking her head in fond exasperation, April slipped into boxers and a tank top before toppling into bed and letting Mikey tuck her in.

"Hey, Mike?" she asked. "Could you get what's on the top shelf of my closet?"

Casting her a quizzical glance, he did as she asked, and grinned as he pulled open the door. "I can't believe you still have this," he said, pulling Titian off the shelf and bringing it back to her.

She took it gratefully, wrapping her arms around the plush turtle and breathing in his comforting, familiar scent. "He only comes out when I really need him," she said.

"Welp. If tonight doesn't count, I don't know what does." Mikey yawned again, stretching. "Aw man. My room is way too far away."

"Then stay here, doofus," she murmured, snuggling deeper into the covers.

"Where's Casey gonna sleep?"

"He's on duty with Raph for the next eight hours," she sighed. "'sides, I need someone to make sure I don't turn into a kaiju."

"You're not a kaiju," Mikey laughed wearily, but he flopped down on top of the covers next to her.

Briefly, she felt a little pang of guilt at the fact that he didn't have covers for himself, but he usually ended up kicking them off anyway. Her eyes drifted closed, and she smiled as she felt the heavy weight of his hand on her shoulder through the blankets. She didn't doubt his assurances that she wasn't a kaiju. He meant them. But he'd keep tabs on her anyway, because it made her feel better. That was just how Michelangelo worked.

"You're a good guy, Mike." Her voice was slurring with fatigue now, but he understood.

Patting her shoulder, he answered, "I know. Now shut up and go to sleep."

That was the smartest thing he'd said all night. She was so tired now, she felt like she was floating, rocked on the waves of the ocean that beat against the walls of the Shatterdome. As she drifted away, light played behind her eyes, flaring in delicate, lacy patterns. Tangled webs of light. But not like the ones that had held her and Mikey earlier. These webs didn't hurt. These webs were made of something else, something green, and gold, and important. So important.

But she was so, so tired. She'd remember why they were important later. Now, she let herself sink into sleep, trusting Mike to guard her dreams as he'd so fiercely guarded her memories.

_Tangled web of light…_

Sighing, April let go of the web, and it spun off into the darkness as she finally submerged into sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

_This is an (only slightly) belated birthday gift for the lovely and wonderful__ kindervenom__. Happy birthday, Wren! _

_And Happy Holidays to all of you. Whatever you're doing at this time of year, I wish you all the very best, and thank you so much for taking this wild writing journey with me._

* * *

Casey grimaced as his phone rang again, and this time he turned the damn thing off. Jamming it back into his pocket, he folded his arms over the rail and stared out over the rain-drenched city. Stupid weather. It had to go and mirror his mood. Dreary and damp and grey, yet warm enough that the city was shrouded in thick, cloying fog.

Part of him felt guilty. More than a little. He was absolutely AWOL and he knew it, and before he'd fallen in with the Shatterdome crew, he wouldn't even have cared. Now, he couldn't shut up that nagging little voice in the back of his head. _What if it's important? What if they need you? You're letting them down. _But it's not like he was on call, and there were no kaiju due anyway, and dammit, he'd just needed to get _out_ of that place.

He should have known better than to get his hopes up. He really should. Dad had been pretty clear about his feelings when he'd left Casey behind. But things were different now. Casey was out of prison - he was a freaking _Ranger_, for crying out loud. He'd thought at the very least, he'd get to see his sister for Christmas. But no, that would mean Dad would have to admit he might have been wrong.

"Some things never change." The words tasted bitter in his mouth, and he sighed. He'd come up here to tag the billboard behind him, get at least some of his frustration out, but he didn't even feel like doing that any more.

"You can say that again."

"Holy geez!" Casey started, slipping on the wet grating, and only a rough, three-fingered hand held him back from pitching over the rail. Glaring through his wet bangs, Casey shook off Raph's hand. "Dude, don't _do_ that!"

Raph rolled his eyes, leaning against the rail. "If you'd answer your damn phone, I wouldn't have to."

"Oh come on, man. I can't go one night without a babysitter? Just - can we not do this now? Not tonight. Pretend you didn't find me and I'll report to the nannies in the morning." He just couldn't handle this now. Casey didn't know what mutant turtles were, exactly, but he was pretty sure they weren't Episcopalian. Raph had been brought up in a sewer until he was fifteen, for Pete's sake; did he have any idea how much "my asshole dad won't even let me visit my baby sister at Christmas" could mess a guy up?

From the expression on his face, the answer was no. "Not tonight," Raph said. "We got places to be, man. Now come on, before I have to knock you out and drag you there."

Rage kicked through him, tinging the dreary grey night with red. Despite himself, Casey felt his hands curling into fists. "I mean it, Raph. Just back _off!_"

Casey lunged. He wasn't really sure what he'd intended to do. Something stupid, probably. He was already bracing for the return blow from Raph, but it didn't come. Something that definitely wasn't a sai flashed in Raph's hand, and stars exploded across Casey's vision before everything went black.

* * *

He came to sometime later, and it took him a moment to piece together that the uncomfortable ridge digging into his gut meant that Raph was carrying him over his shoulder. Groaning, he attempted to move, but the stabbing pain in his temples made him rethink that idea real quick.

"Wha'd you hit me with," he managed to force out.

"Stun gun," Raph answered. "Sorry, you didn't leave me much time to think."

"I hate you."

"Hey, Donnie asked me to test the thing out on the next idiot who decided to jump me. Not my fault it was you. 'Sides, if I'd hit you, you'd probably have gone over the edge."

"Okay, then I hate him."

"Don't. He made it for you."

Casey blinked, trying to clear his fuzzy vision. "Whoa. Really?"

"Yeah. So you've got something small you can hide on you when you're doing official stuff in your civvies. He used your potato masher idea you had and kind of ran with it." Raph snorted, shifting Casey and causing his shell to dig deeper into Casey's gut. "I should probably tell him to dial it down a notch. It was supposed to knock you on your ass, not put you under."

"No, no, that was awesome. Well, not for me. But still. Okay, I kinda love him now. But I still hate him. And you." He groaned again. The fetid stench assaulting his nose wasn't helping his head any. "Dude, it reeks. It smells like we're in a sewer."

"We are."

"Right." Casey sighed. "Why are we in a sewer?"

"I told you, man, we got places to be tonight." Raph turned a corner, and Casey nearly wept in relief as the smell abated somewhat. The ground passing by beneath him turned from dank, dark water to concrete and train tracks. Slowing, Raph finally set Casey back on his feet, keeping a hand on his shoulder to steady him. "Can you walk? Everyone's gonna freak out if you show up acting like you're three sheets to the wind."

"Not my fault you decided to tase me, bro."

"Yeah, it is. You jumped me."

"Fair point." Casey leaned against a curving wall, pressing a hand to his head. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Just… just gimme a sec."

He was very aware of Raph's eyes on him as he attempted to pull himself together. Finally, after the silence stretched long past the point at which anyone else would have snapped, Raph shifted and folded his arms. "...you wanna talk about it?"

Five words. Five stupid words, and they lanced through him like an arrow, puncturing the cyst in which the rage had been festering and letting it drain away. He didn't particularly want to talk about it. But it mattered that Raph cared. More than Casey expected it would.

"I think so," he admitted at last. "But… maybe not now. Save it for when we got time. It's… it's my Dad."

Understanding flashed across Raph's eyes, and he rested a hand briefly against Casey's arm. He didn't say anything, but he didn't need to. He'd seen the memories firsthand through Casey's eyes. That last awful, terrible fight. The letters to his sister returned unopened. The moment he picked the newest Ranger action figure off the shelf, running his hands over the label and knowing he'd found his sister's Christmas present.

* * *

_Casey Jones, Ranger_

_New York Shatterdome_

_Goon Gala_

_*(Raphael Hamato figure and Jaeger sold separately)_

* * *

Best of all (or possibly worst, he wasn't entirely sure), Raph had felt Casey's hope that finally, Dad would see past his screw ups. See that he'd changed. Let him back into the family. Raph had felt that hope like it was his own. He _understood_.

There was no hiding it in the Drift.

"Come on," Raph said softly. "They're waiting."

"Who?" Casey asked, his brow furrowing as he followed Raph through an old set of turnstiles. They squeaked a protest, moving stiffly under the rust. The question died, forgotten, as he took in the room beyond, his eyes widening. "Dude… where are we?"

It was old, and run down, and bits of it had collapsed from age and probably from the construction surrounding the Boneyard, but the room that lay beyond was one of the coolest things Casey had ever seen. That pit in the centre… it would have been a great place for a TV. Throw in a couple of games and a practice dummy or two, and this could have been the greatest secret hideout in the-

Memories suddenly aligned, recollection coloured by Raph's perception overlaying itself on the abandoned rooms beyond, and suddenly Casey knew exactly where they were.

"This was home." Raph echoed his thoughts. "Once."

"I don't understand," Casey said, following him toward a set of stairs. Light glowed behind the paper screens at the top. "What are we doing here?"

"We could never live here again," Raph said as he climbed the stairs. "Not after everything went down. Too many people know about it now. But once a year, we come back." He grinned, and planted a hand on Casey's back, propelling him through the door until he nearly tripped over some kind of bamboo decoration that had been placed just inside the room.

Colour and light assailed his senses, and he reeled as he tried to take it all in. Candles burned in lanterns around the room, breaking up into prisms that danced on the walls. Soft, bright carpets covered the floor around the gnarled tree that grew at the centre of the room, and the tree fairly dripped with decorations. Lights, snowflakes, glass baubles, and a star-shaped piñata dangled from every available limb. Beneath it all was a table ringed with cushions and some kind of blanket, the whole thing overflowing with food.

And every single person that really mattered was crammed into the room. Donnie's feet stuck out from under the table, the rest of him invisible as he fussed with something underneath. Leo sat next to him, looking more at ease than Leo ever looked, relaxed enough that he was only wearing the weird leather gear the guys trained in instead of the jacket that usually covered his scars. He was laughing as he handed tools to Donnie's grasping hand. Mikey perched in the tree, busily trying to find a place for his armful of ornaments in the already overcrowded branches while a Santa hat persistently flopped over one eye. On the far side of the room, April and Angel worked together to arrange a centrepiece of poinsettias on a table that held an array of bottles and drinks, both of them laughing so hard that Angel was practically crying.

Raph moved up to stand next to him, smiling as he looked at the friendly chaos within the room. "We don't always get to do it on the same day any more 'cause of the Shatterdome stuff, and April and Angel brought their own quirks to it, but…" he shrugged. "This is what we do this time of year."

"You're… you're _all_ AWOL? Even Leo?" Casey pressed a hand against his head. "Man, what is Marshall Hamato gonna say?"

"I was thinking something along the lines of 'welcome,'" a familiar voice chimed in behind him, and he couldn't hold back the screech as he whirled and looked up into the Marshall's face. Hamato was out of uniform, wearing a soft burgundy robe instead, and he chuckled at Casey's dismay before patting his shoulder. "I am glad that you are here, Casey Jones. But please, shoes off inside."

Gaping, Casey hurried to comply as the Marshall carried a small bowl of rice to a shelf in the corner, setting it beneath a picture frame surrounded by decorations.

"Casey!" He staggered as April barreled into him, barely managing to catch her. Her hair practically gleamed against the green velvet of the pretty dress she wore, and he tried and failed to hide the fact that he was staring. "You made it! But your nose is all red!" Frowning, she poked at it. "You're freezing!" Her concerned expression melted into a grin, and she rose up on her toes, planting a kiss on the end of his nose. "There. That's better." Her mission accomplished, she moved her mouth to his, and suddenly Casey felt like he'd been hit with the taser again. She tasted of sweetness, and spices, and rum, and he wondered just how heavily the girls had spiked that eggnog and how much of it they'd already had.

"Oh my god, get a room, you two." But Angel was grinning as she sauntered over and took April's arm. "Sorry, Romeo, I need April to help me finish this. You can have her back at dinner."

He wasn't sure if it was a combination of the taser, or the kiss, or both, but suddenly it was all a lot to take in. His knees starting to wobble, Casey dropped down on the carpet next to his shoes. Raph joined him with a little bit more control, resting his elbow on an upraised knee as he watched his family finish their preparations.

"I'm sorry about your sister," Raph said, for Casey's ears only. "That sucks, man. Times like this… you gotta be with family. If you got anything you wanna add, just let us know. Mikey's good at coming up with that kinda stuff. 'Specially now he's got Angel to help."

Understanding slammed into Casey, nearly stealing his breath as he watched the festivities unfolding before him. This thing… this celebration… all of them stealing away from the Shatterdome to indulge in this moment of shared joy... it was an intensely private thing. They could have done it in the Shatterdome, but they did it here, away from everybody else. It was theirs, and theirs alone. It was for _family_.

And Raph had been sent to bring Casey in.

He was saved from the humiliation of bursting into tears in front of the entire New York Ranger corps and his boss by Donnie. The genius let out a crow of triumph and emerged from beneath the table, greeted by cheering from the others. Mikey dropped from the tree instantly, jamming his legs beneath the blanket and letting out a blissful sigh, completely ignoring the scolding Leo started giving him for abandoning his decorating to do so.

"Raph," Casey said quietly. "I…" He turned and met his partner's eyes, and gave him a sheepish shrug. "Thank you."

It wasn't enough. It couldn't ever be enough. But Raph had been in the Drift with him enough that he could hear the unspoken volumes behind those two words. He understood. As much as he blustered, and shouted, and shoved his way through Casey's life, he always understood. Grinning, Raph bumped his fist against Casey's before rising to his feet and offering his hand.

With an answering smile, Casey let himself be tugged to his feet, feeling only a little residual wobbliness that, with a few glasses of that eggnog, he could pass off as the rum. Abandoning any lingering shreds of pride or hesitation, he let Raph drag him toward the others. There was an entirely new set of family traditions laid out before him, and right now, in this moment, he could think of no greater honour than being invited to be part of them.


End file.
